• Meghan Markle is seen wearing a shirt that reads “The Queen Is Dead”.
• A widely circulated photo of Meghan Markle with the message “The Queen Is Dead” was digitally manipulated.
• The Duchess of Sussex and former actress is seen wearing a white T-shirt with the cover art for The Smiths’.

According to a widely circulated tweet, Meghan Markle is seen wearing a shirt that reads “The Queen Is Dead” following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. This is untrue; the photo was digitally manipulated as early as March 2021, and the Duchess of Sussex and former actress is visible in the original shot wearing a simple grey coat.

An 8 September 2022 tweet reads, “I can’t believe Meghan went there.”

The image in the post looks to depict Markle wearing a white T-shirt with the cover art for the well-known The Smiths album “The Queen Is Dead.” There were over 27,000 likes on the tweet.

In a subsequent message, the Twitter user adds falsely, “The is real btw.”

Prince Harry, Markle’s husband, offered praise to the queen after she appeared on his show, which contrasted the negative tone of the remarks.

passed away on September 8 as Markle arrived in the UK. The couple, who said they were giving up their royal duties in 2020, were spotted outside Windsor Castle on September 10. They are also rumoured to be attending the queen’s burial on September 19.

Reverse image searches reveal Markle’s face was photo-shopped onto a background that has previously been used to advertise other T-shirt designs in relation to the “The Queen Is Dead” allegation. An employee of WireImage, a digital photo studio that specialises in celebrities, took the initial image of Markle on March 23, 2018, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

In the photo, Markle is clad in a white shirt under a grey coat. In a March 2018 article, People magazine included the picture.

Since at least March 8, 2021, when it was posted on social media pages connected to Dead Posh UK, a retailer of T-shirts with the similar design, the altered image of Markle has been making the rounds online. Additionally, mugs with the altered image of Markle were for sale on the UK website.

The Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr tweeted the image on March 10, 2021. A London digital artist used Photoshop to make the image, according to a Facebook comment from Dead Posh UK to AFP.

AFP contacted Buckingham Palace and Archewell, the US organization Markle and Prince Harry manage, but neither responded with a statement.

[embedpost slug=”/prince-harry-will-celebrate-his-38th-birthday-with-meghan-markle/”]