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Royal Family News – Queen Elizabeth Is Still Alive
Who in the world is making this outrageous and false claim? According to E!, on Feb. 22, the blog Hollywood Unlocked claimed that Her Majesty had died, at the age of 95.
The blog’s Instagram post stated, “Sources close to the Royal Palace notified us exclusively that #QueenElizabeth has passed away. She was scheduled to attend the wedding of British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, but was found dead. Story developing.”
The gossip spread like wildfire and mere hours later the website was at it again, with another post reinforcing its original story. But the second post was flagged by Instagram as “false information.” While many royal watchers were utterly convinced that Hollywood Unlocked got it wrong, the website’s founder and CEO doubled down.
Royal Family News – The Queen Is Well
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Before the false report was posted, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson provided additional news about the Queen’s diagnosis: “As Her Majesty is still experiencing mild cold like symptoms she has decided, not to undertake her planned virtual engagements today but will continue with light duties.”
Royal Family News – Don’t Believe Everything You Read
This is what the site’s founder Jason Lee had to say about the misinformation on Instagram: “Regarding the Queen Elizabeth story…1. I’ve never lied. 2. I’ve never been wrong. 3. I trust my sources. 4. I have yet to see an official statement from the palace saying otherwise. 5. I’ll be at the Donda concert tonight with YE.”
In the early morning of Feb. 23 Lee appeared to be backtracking with an apology. He wrote, “Our deepest apologies goes out to the #RoyalFamily and all involved in this embarrassing situation. It was an accident and we’re working hard to make sure that this mistake never happens again. The intern journalist was misinformed and published the draft post by mistake. – HU.” Hollywood Unlocked has since deleted the tweet.
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The Platinum Jubilee Is This Year
But wait, there’s more! Later on the 23rd Lee rescinded the apology: “Woke up to some fake account posting a retraction,” he tweeted. “We do not know that account and we have not retracted our story. There has yet to be an official statement from the Palace. Staying tuned.” Let the buyer beware.
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