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Is Queen Elizabeth dead? Hollywood Unlocked founder Jason Lee defends shocking claims

'Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has died,' reports website and founder Tweets 'I trust my sources,' net responds with memes and trolling

"Sources close to the Royal Kingdom notified us exclusively that Queen Elizabeth has passed away," reported one website on February 22, 2022. The report has now gone viral and inspired a wealth of memes and jokes on social media as internet users rush to verify the accuracy of the claims. 

The news comes just days after Buckingham Palace confirmed the Queen had contracted Covid-19. While the Palace did not confirm, it is widely believed she caught the virus from Prince Charles, who also tested positive days ago, as did his wife Camilla. The Palace did say the Queen was experiencing "mild symptoms", but doing well despite the latest health setback. The aging monarch has already put plans in place for the family to continue in case of her death, announcing Camilla will be 'Queen Consort' to Charles. 

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However, many expected the Queen to continue for months, if not years. Despite a series of health issues in the past year, the Palace has claimed she was still in good health to continue carrying out her duties. It's unclear how badly Covid-19 has affected her, which is why there are now strong rumors of her death. 

Is the Queen really dead?

Rumors of the Queen's death surfaced from Hollywood Unlocked (HU), an entertainment website. They claimed that the Queen "was found dead" as she was scheduled to attend the wedding of Edward Enninful, the editor of British Vogue. The massive wedding is being billed as the "A-list event of the year" with the guest list including the likes of David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio, Donatella Versace, and Naomi Campbell to name a few. 

While we do know the wedding is going ahead, what is less clear is if the Queen was to attend. With over 300 attendees for the wedding, it seems unlikely the Queen would attend such a large gathering, keeping in line with Covid-19 protocols implemented by the Palace. Even if she was to attend the wedding, her Covid-19 diagnosis means she would be unable to. So HU's claims seem dubious at best. 

Shortly after HU's article, Radar Online published another scoop claiming that the monarch wasn't dead, but in "bad shape." "The Royal Family is "making final plans" amid the 95-year-old's health struggle... we've learned the family "is getting ready for the worst"," Radar reported. Several other websites have also fact-checked HU's claims, but it seems like the site isn't backing down. Not only is the article still up on their website, but founder and CEO of the website Jason Lee took to Twitter and said, "We don’t post lies and I always stand by my sources. Waiting for an official statement from the palace."

'Jason Lee bout to be kidnapped'

For now, it seems like HU's publication is premature, to say the least. And so the net did what it does best, and trolled the website. "If Jason Lee knows #QueenElizabeth is dead then he must know who killed Biggie and Pac," one user tweeted. Another joked, "Queen #Elizabeth will be the first woman in the world to watch the proceedings after her death while she is alive." A third mocked, "I wanna know who in Buckingham Palace would see #QueenElizabeth passed away in her bed and think to themselves “oh bloody f-----g hell, we must phone Jason lee!”"

"BREAKING NEWS: Queen Elizabeth I still dead, 418 years and almost eleven months after her passing," one person tweeted. Another mocked, "jason lee bout to be kidnapped with a sack over his head god bless." One person said, "Whether Jason Lee knows it yet or not, he’s gonna pay for Andrew’s legal fees."

The last update from the Palace came earlier on February 22, when they said "she has decided not to undertake her planned virtual engagements today, but will continue with light duties." In March though, she is expected to be at several high-profile events, assuming she recovers fully.