India plays a key role in the large-scale supply of Covid-19 vaccines around the world. On March 13 (Saturday), London will receive a range of vaccines Made in India Covid-19, Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar said.
In this context, a post for both viral Facebook and Twitter with the claim that Queen Elizabeth II has resigned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Covid-19. The resignation letter was displayed on a giant screen in the world-famous Piccadilly Circus in London.
The text on the screen along with the image of the Queen reads: “Thank you PM Modi for sending us COVID-19 vaccines. You are a good boy.”
The caption in Hindi along with the image translated as: “Queen Elizabeth II in London set up a billboard to thank Modiji for her help to England with the corona vaccine. Thank you Modiji for making us proud again.”
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that the image was changed along with the claim. The Queen has not yet commented and thanks PM Modi of India for the Covid vaccines.
The archived versions of similar posts can be seen here, here and here.
AFWA investigation
According to a reported in Reuters, a British government spokesman confirmed that the country had ordered 100 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, of which 10 million doses would come from the Serum Institute of India. While EAM Jaishankar tweeted that the vaccines Made in India were delivered in London on Saturday, we could not find any media reports about Queen Elizabeth II thanking India or PM Modi for the coronavirus vaccination.
Indo-British partnership in action. Vaccines are manufactured in India and are delivered in London today. # VaccineMaitri pic.twitter.com/hDqiysZRZF
– Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) 5 March 2021
Using a reverse image search, we found the original image of the queen on the billboard. The caption reads: “We will be with our friends again, we will be with our families again, we will meet again,” and was carried by various media organizations (https://www.newsweek.com/queen -elizabeth -coronavirus-picadilly-circus-billboard-boris-johnson-uk-1496838) in April 2020. The message was further attributed to, “Her Majesty the Queen”.
According to the reports, it was an excerpt from the Queen’s message of hope to the country amid the Covid pandemic that appeared at Piccadilly Lights in London from 7 April to 19 April.
BBC London also tweeted the same image on April 8, 2020.
Queen’s message of hope illuminates Piccadilly Circush https://t.co/l6l0y6HDWj pic.twitter.com/KlE3C1unLP
– BBC London (@BBCLondonNews) 8 April 2020
Several images shot from different angles of the same billboard with the message of the Queen of Hope were also published in April 2020 by the stock image website Getty Images (http://bitly.ws/caAH).
We also found the same image of Queen on the billboard from April 2020 as a free template on multiple memes that generate websites where users can change the text on the screen.
A comparison between the image, the viral claim and the original image can be seen below.
It is therefore clear that the viral image in question is changing. Queen Elizabeth II made no public statement thanking PM Modi for supplying vaccines to India.
ClaimQueen Elizabeth II thanks Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Covid-19 vaccines. The resignation letter was displayed on a giant screen in Piccadilly Circus in London. ClosureThis is a changed image. The original image shows an excerpt from the Queen’s message of hope amid the Covid pandemic in April 2020. The Queen has so far made no public comment to thank PM Modi for the Covid vaccines.
JHOOTH BOLE KAUVA KAATE
The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.
- 1 Crow: Half true
- 2 crows: mostly lies
- 3 crows: absolutely false
