# December 2019 Queen Elizabeth II Twitter Death Rumour

On December 1st, 2019, a screenshotted WhatsApp message from a user named Gibbo claiming Queen Elizabeth II died of a heart attack hit Twitter and triggered roughly 135,000 tweets within an hour[1]. Royal reporter Chris Proctor at @MonarchyUK confirmed hours later that she was alive and preparing to meet Donald Trump at that week's NATO summit in London[2]. Mock-shock reaction GIFs of the Queen seeing her own death trend stayed the main artifact of the afternoon.

## Origin
Catalyst: on December 1st, 2019, a screenshot of a WhatsApp group chat leaked onto Twitter in which a user named Gibbo told the group that Queen Elizabeth II had died of a heart attack[3]. The message was unsourced, but the screenshot format gave it enough plausibility to spread quickly.

Earliest known meme reactions: within the same afternoon, UK Twitter began captioning reaction videos as the Queen opening Twitter and seeing her own death[5], while others posted relief edits once the story started to crack[4]. Royal reporter Chris Proctor of @MonarchyUK then said a source close to the family confirmed she was alive and looking forward to meeting US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in London that week[2].

- **Platform:** WhatsApp (source) / Twitter (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2019

## Overview
Posts around the rumour mostly split into two joke shapes. In the first, Twitter users imagined Queen Elizabeth II herself opening the app and reading that she was dead, captioning old clips of startled celebrities or horror-movie double-takes to stand in for her reaction[3]. In the second, after word got out that she was fine, people celebrated with relief videos, including @Razaool's Big Shaq edit that greeted the all-clear[4].

Both genres leaned on the fact that "The Queen", "Queen Death" and "Queen Elizabeth II" were trending at the same time in the UK, so any post framed as the monarch's own doomscroll instantly landed[1]. Longer joke tweets paired reaction GIFs with fake quotes, such as the Queen telling the grim reaper she wanted to make it to her 94th birthday[2]. The tone was affectionate rather than mournful; most posters treated the hoax as an unexpected afternoon of free material.

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is December 2019 Queen Elizabeth II Twitter Death Rumour?
A one-day Twitter hoax on December 1st, 2019 that falsely claimed Queen Elizabeth II had died of a heart attack, triggered by a leaked WhatsApp screenshot from a user named Gibbo[1].

### Where did December 2019 Queen Elizabeth II Twitter Death Rumour come from?
It started as a WhatsApp group chat screenshot that was reposted to Twitter, where "The Queen" trended with roughly 135,000 tweets in an hour[3].

### What does December 2019 Queen Elizabeth II Twitter Death Rumour mean?
The name points to an unfounded death rumour that briefly took over UK Twitter before royal reporter @MonarchyUK confirmed the Queen was alive and about to meet Donald Trump at the NATO summit[2].

### How do you use December 2019 Queen Elizabeth II Twitter Death Rumour?
People made reaction edits picturing the Queen herself opening Twitter to read that she was dead, or relief clips like @Razaool's Big Shaq post once the all-clear went out[5][4].

### Is December 2019 Queen Elizabeth II Twitter Death Rumour still popular?
No. The hoax was a one-afternoon event with coverage from The Tab and The Sun the next day, and the actual death of the Queen in September 2022 overtook it as reference material[1].

## References
1. [https://thetab.com/uk/2019/12/02/is-the-queen-dead-memes-134082](<https://thetab.com/uk/2019/12/02/is-the-queen-dead-memes-134082>)
2. [https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10468495/the-queen-not-dead-sick-whatsapp-hoax/](<https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10468495/the-queen-not-dead-sick-whatsapp-hoax/>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/december-2019-queen-elizabeth-ii-twitter-death-rumour](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/december-2019-queen-elizabeth-ii-twitter-death-rumour>)
4. [https://x.com/i/status/1201268795886784514](<https://x.com/i/status/1201268795886784514>)
5. [https://x.com/i/status/1201271033019404288](<https://x.com/i/status/1201271033019404288>)
6. [https://twitter.com/MonarchyUK/status/1201273537706770432](<https://twitter.com/MonarchyUK/status/1201273537706770432>)

---
Source: https://meme.com/memes/december-2019-queen-elizabeth-ii-twitter-death-rumour
Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library