No proof that Queen Elizabeth removed Obamas from Prince Harry’s wedding guest list

Prince Harry interviews Obama — In this BBC handout photo former President Barack Obama is interviewed by Britain's Prince Harry for the BBC Radio 4 Today program that he guest edited. The program broadcast Dec. 27, 2017. (BBC Radio 4 Today/PA via AP)

The guest list for Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle has been the subject of fake news accounts — including one that Queen Elizabeth delivered a “well-deserved and humiliating beatdown” to Michelle Obama by striking her from the guest list.

“Queen Elizabeth removes Obamas from royal wedding guest list,” said a Dec. 10 headline on America Today.

Facebook users flagged the post as being potentially fabricated, as part of the social network’s efforts to combat fake news. The story is similar to an earlier article by Just News USA.

We found only speculative news reports about whether the Obamas would be invited and no official reports about the guest list. We found no credible news articles which stated that the Queen struck the Obamas from the list.

The fake story said that when Michelle Obama heard that Harry was marrying a black woman (Markle is biracial) she tried to “sneak a spot on the guest list.”

“Barack, who had been practically stalking Prince Harry on Twitter in recent weeks, made a post within seconds of the news coming out, which served the purpose of letting the Royals know that he and Michelle were angling for an invitation to the wedding of the year,” the story said.

Ever since the couple announced their engagement in November, there have been multiple speculative news reports about who will and won’t be invited to the wedding.

Some news reports based on unnamed sources said that the couple want the Obamas at their May 19 wedding. While the royal family has been friendly with the Obamas, we found no official reports.

The royal family has put out two press releases regarding the engagement in November, and neither mention an invite list.

On Dec. 27, while guest-editing a BBC morning radio program, Harry joked that the guest list was still a ways off.

“I don’t know about that — we haven’t even put the invite or the guest list together yet. Who knows if (Obama’s) going to be invited or not,” Harry said. “I wouldn’t want to ruin that surprise.”

News reports have speculated about whether Trump will be invited to the royal wedding although there is precedent for sitting U.S. presidents to not attend.

While those reports are speculative, Markle was critical of Trump before her engagement. In May 2016 while on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, Markle said Trump was “divisive” and “misogynistic.”

A headline said that “Queen Elizabeth removes Obamas from royal wedding guest list.” We found no credible reports that the Queen took this action — just speculation about whether the Obamas will be invited. We rate this headline Pants on Fire.

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