With the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8th, 2022, the internet is ablaze with tributes, theories, and of course, memes.
First, there was the viral TikTok video (re-circulating from January) of Irish dancers performing to ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ in front of Buckingham Palace. Then came jokes about the British press blaming Meghan Markle for the Queen’s passing, followed by even more jokes about Princess Diana finally being avenged.
The most obscure meme about the monarch’s death, however, is that Queen Elizabeth II will be reincarnated as the baby of YouTube star Trisha Paytas.
The meme went viral when Twitter user @peachyblackg0rl shared a screenshot from a TikTok that read, “Queen Elizabeth holding on for dear life so she doesn’t get reincarnated as Trisha Paytas’ baby”.
The tweet was posted on September 6th and quickly got over 136K likes.
One day later, Trisha tweeted that her cervix was 1cm dilated, indicating that she might go into active labour soon.
The controversial social media star announced her pregnancy back in February after doctors diagnosed her as infertile years ago. She is now nine months pregnant with a daugther.
Hours after Trisha’s tweet, the Palace released a statement that the Queen was in poor health, followed shortly after by the news of her death— sending pop culture enthusiasts into a tailspin over the coincidence of this viral meme aligning with real-life events.
“The prophecy is being fulfilled,” one user wrote.
“I found out the Queen died through dozens of tweets about her being reincarnated as Trisha Paytas’ baby because she is going into labor at the same time,” tweeted another.
On TikTok, videos from users reacting to this coincidence have seen hundreds of thousands of views, while “Trisha Paytas” is trending on Twitter worldwide.
Despite the running joke, monarchists have condemned those engaging in this discourse, calling the meme “disrespectful” given that the Queen has only just passed away.
While it is—dare we say— near impossible that the late Queen Elizabeth II will be reincarnated as Trisha Paytas’ baby, the circumstances around this viral joke are an interesting example of how meme culture can be influential in relaying both valid information and conspiracy theories to internet users, even in an event as big as the Queen’s death.
Trisha has not provided another update on the status of her labour at the time of writing, so looks like the Queen might be saved from that fate.