Facts Matter: Queen's death brings out conspiracy theories

Elizabeth II, queen of the United Kingdom, died Sept. 8 after nearly seven decades on the throne. After her death, conspiracy theories about the monarch went viral on social media.

One involves claims the queen worshipped the devil, or Lucifer.

"She was a luciferin since day one. They just called it Druids at that time. Lol. Now she home with her master," a post reads while including photos of the queen in a robe and a hood.

The photo is authentic, but the claim is false, according to PolitiFact. The queen was a Christian and the head of the Church of England.

The image is from 1946 when then-Princess Elizabeth was initiated into the Gorsedd of the Bards, a Welsh group that dates back to the 1700s. She was dressed as a druid for the ceremony.

The organization honors the achievements of Welsh poets and writers and an expert on the group told the BBC, "There's no pagan link there at all."

Additionally, a black-and-white photo making the rounds on social media shows seven Black men carrying a white woman, seated in a wooden cart, across a stretch of water.

"This is who y'all telling to rest in peace?" reads the caption accompanying the photo in a Facebook post.

But that's not Queen Elizabeth II, PolitiFact said. The photo is on Agence France-Presse's website and, although undated, the description said it was created as early as 1930. Elizabeth was only 4 years old at that time.

The caption says the photo was taken in West Africa and shows "a European traveler being carried through a river by African porters in a sedan chair."

King didn't declare Trump president

Charles was proclaimed king two days after Queen Elizabeth's death.

Some social media users claimed King Charles III got right to work interfering in American politics.

"Wait what ...? This is all over Telegram this morning," began a Sept. 11 Facebook post. "King Charles III signs a proclamation stating that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election and is the rightful president by law. Warns Biden and Kamala to vacate the premises within 48 hours or a state of war will exist between America and England."

The post includes a photo of King Charles III signing a document.

But this claim is false, according to PolitiFact. The image in the fake post is an actual photo showing Charles signing an oath stating he will uphold the Church of Scotland.

There was nothing at that event about former President Donald Trump or war with the U.S.

As king, Charles could declare war, but he would need the approval of Parliament and Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Biden didn't OK Mar-a-Lago search

The FBI searched the Florida home of former President Donald Trump last month, and a recent document has social media users claiming President Joe Biden was involved.

"Joe Biden initiated the Mar-a-Lago raid, then lied about doing so to Americans repeatedly. Let that sink in," a conservative outlet wrote on Twitter.

But the false claim resulted from a line in the document that reads, "as requested by the incumbent President," according to The Associated Press.

The document wasn't about authorizing the search. It was a May 10 letter from the National Archives and Records Administration telling Trump it would proceed with providing "the FBI access to the records in question, as requested by the incumbent President."

Debra Steidel Wall, acting head of the National Archives, in the letter said boxes turned over by Trump included "classified national security information."

That meant the Department of Justice had to seek access to the classified materials from the White House. Due to the Presidential Records Act, all requests for presidential records in the National Archives need to be approved by the president, not officials at the archives.

Pie chart on eating is satire

A graphic purportedly showing the future of eating was recently posted on Instagram

"What will our diets look like in 2030?" the Aug. 29 post reads, showing a pie chart broken into five slices: synthetic nutrients, seed oils, intermittent fasting, micro livestock and alternative proteins. The graphic is credited to the World Economic Forum.

The post received more than 1,400 likes on the day it showed up and some commenters appeared to be concerned, with one writing, "Except for the fasting - this is pretty scary."

But the post is a joke, according to USA Today.

When one commenter asked where to find the graphic online, the original poster answered, "Satire, dude."

Alem Tedeneke, a spokesperson for the World Economic Forum, told USA Today the graphic was not created by that organization.

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.