The Queen has a mild dose of COVID but, despite reports to the contrary, remains very much alive.
All that didn’t stop US celebrity gossip site Hollywood Unlocked posting an “exclusive” story on Sunday stating the 95-year-old Monarch had passed away.
An accompanying Instagram post from the blog captioned the story, “Socialites, it is with our deepest regret to inform you that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has died.”
It continued: “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.” (Footnote: the Queen never attends celebrity weddings.)
Media commentators have also pointed out that Royal protocols are in place to break the news of the Queen’s death, with Buckingham Palace informing the British prime minister before an announcement is made on the BBC. It doesn’t involve telling US gossip sites.
Despite Lizzie well and truly being still with us, Hollywood Unlocked’s founder, Jason Lee, stood by the reporting.
Lee tweeting: “We don’t post lies and I always stand by my sources. Waiting for an official statement from the Palace.”
Following the backlash, an unofficial Twitter account for Hollywood Unlocked posted an apology that has since been deleted. It read: “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 this mistake never happens again. The intern journalist was misinformed and published the draft post by mistake. -HU.”
Things then got even murkier. Yesterday, Lee posted it was the retraction that was actually fake.
Lee tweeted: “Woke up to some fake account posting a retraction. 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.”
By this stage Lee and Hollywood Unlocked were being roasted by a number of media outlets over their incorrect reporting and refusal to apologise.
Lee again took to social media, this time Instagram, to declare: “I’ve never lied. I’ve never been wrong. I trust my sources. I have yet to see an official statement from the palace saying otherwise. I’ll be at the Donda concert tonight with YE.”
To make matters worse, despite Lee labelling the account that posted the apology as fake, the account declared that it has been the official Hollywood Unlocked Twitter account since the original one was suspended.
Lee continues to claim his site’s report could still be true because Buckingham Palace has not released a statement confirming that the Queen is actually alive.
On Tuesday, the Palace did release a latest statement that said Her Majesty was suffering “mild cold-like symptoms” from her COVID infection.
