Bitter Twitter battle: Queen’s passing mourned as some ‘celebrate’

Some tweeps 'celebrated' Queen Elizabeth's death, slamming the monarch for 'atrocities' suffered by people under British rule in the past.

Sep 9, 2022 - 17:25
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Bitter Twitter battle: Queen’s passing mourned as some ‘celebrate’

Royal supporters have praised the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II while some tore it to shreds in social media reactions to the British monarch’s passing on Thursday 8 September at Balmoral Castle, Scotland. Tragedy is seldom met without controversy on social media. The death of the longest-reigning monarch has been no exception.

Following the BBC’s announcement of the Queen’s death on Thursday afternoon, public figures and supporters of Britain’s royal family took to Twitter to extend condolences to the Windsor family. Few were left to express these sentiments in peace though.

Don’t mourn the Queen ‘on our behalf’

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga both posted tributes to the royal. They were among many who faced the wrath of ‘decolonial’ Twitter. Both posted tributes to the monarch which were met with mockery and anger.

Hundreds of viral tweets were “celebrating” Queen Elizabeth II’s death, blaming her for atrocities suffered by people under British rule. Although critics praised her for being a bastion of stability as reported by the New York Times, many African scholars have been left cold by her death.

In South Africa, the hashtag #QueenElizabethMemorial was trending on Twitter on Friday morning as hundreds of tweeps were joking about “celebrating” the ruler’s death.

Also Read: ‘Colonial atrocities’: EFF will not mourn Queen Elizabeth’s death

Race became a main feature in many of the arguments around Queen Elizabeth’s legacy.

Also Read: In pictures: A look at the life and times of Queen Elizabeth II

Jeff Bezos slams professor for shock tweet

Tech billionaire Jeff Bezos called out those who were celebrating or mocking the passing of Queen Elizabeth. Bezos quoted a shock tweet which has since been removed from Twitter in which critical race theory professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Uju Anya, says she hopes the Queen’s death was “excruciating”.

Although some people condemned this level of vitriol, others suggested Bezos’s legacy was not so clean either.

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) condolences were immediately met with spicy retorts, while other joined them in fond remembrance. Some Twitter users, however, referenced a past tweet by DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille in which she, according to them, spoke “positively” about colonialism.

Football fans react to Queen’s death

Meanwhile, this Irish account posted a video of what appears to be football fans celebrating the Queen’s death in Ireland.