Reptilian conspiracy theory continues after queen’s death
If your time is short
- Queen Elizabeth was a human, not a reptile.
Queen Elizabeth II’s death has inspired remembrances, criticism and a few conspiracy theories.
Among them: that she was a lizard person.
“The queen and Prince Philip are not human,” says the speaker in a TikTok video shared Sept. 8 on Facebook. Text in the video says: “reptilian queen of England” and “the queen is reptilian.”
“The Queen is dead but this draco went to the great grandson,” another Sept. 8 post says, referring to the groundless theory that the royal family is descended from reptilians in a constellation called Draco. “This is what he was made for, the bloodline!”
A third post, from July, says “y’all know the queen of England is reptile.”
The posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
Claims that Elizabeth and other members of the royal family were reptilian are unfounded and part of a long-running conspiracy theory.
In 1998, Time reported, former BBC reporter David Icke published a book called “The Biggest Secret,” which claimed members of the royal family “are nothing more than reptiles with crowns.”
But it’s not just monarchs who have been targeted with this scaly claim. President Joe Biden has similarly been accused of being a reptile. In 2021, we fact-checked a claim that a video proved he wasn’t human because a snake had been seen emerging from his jacket during a debate with then-President Donald Trump. It wasn’t a snake, but a rosary Biden wears to remember his late son, Beau. And Joe Biden is human, just as the queen was.
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Our Sources
Facebook post, July 7, 2022
Facebook post, Sept. 8, 2022
Instagram post, Sept. 8, 2022
PolitiFact, No, this video doesn’t prove Biden isn’t human, March 22, 2021
Insider, The bizarre origins of the lizard-people conspiracy theory embraced by the Nashville bomber, and how it's related to QAnon, Jan. 7, 2021
Time, The Reptilian Elite, visited Sept. 9, 2022
The Atlantic, How to spot the reptilians running the U.S. government, Oct. 31, 2013
The Guardian, Conspiracy craze: why 12 million Americans believe alien lizards rule us, April 7, 2016
