Conspiracy theory spreading through TikTok claims Queen’s Eisteddfod visit was ‘satanic ritual’

A professional conspiracy debunking service have been forced to step in after a videos spread around TikTok claiming that the late Queen’s initiating ceremony at the Eisteddfod’s Gorsedd of the Bards was a satanic ritual.

Posts on TikTok showing Queen Elizabeth II being initiated as an Honorary Ovate to the Gorsedd of the Bards in Wales in 1946 are captioned as “Queen Elizabeth druidic initiation” claiming that she was a “Luciferian from day one”.

Poynter Institute’s in-house fact-checker Politifact has now been forced to step in to say that the conspiracy theory about Queen Elizabeth taking part in a satanic ritual is “false”.

They said that the post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.

“Photos show a young Queen Elizabeth II participating in a cultural festival in Wales, not a Luciferian rite,” they said.

“She was a Christian and the supreme governor of the Church of England.”

Last year, before the Queen’s death, a similar conspiracy theory did the rounds on social media sharing a photo that they say shows a druidic high priestess preparing Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II for her coronation. The caption wrongly suggested the Royal Family had been trying to censor the image.

Posts on social media claimed: “Queen Elizabeth just prior to her coronation getting led by a Druidic high priestess in preparation for her enthronement ceremony, this is a very rare pic that the house of Windsor has attempted to censure.”

Reuters fact-checked the claim at the time and found it to be “partly false”.

‘Shame’

The then Princess was invested as an honorary bard at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Mountain Ash in 1946, before returning as Queen to the 1960 Eisteddfod in Cardiff with Prince Philip, Princess Anne and the now King Charles.

A photo from this ceremony in 1946 is publicly displayed as part of the Royal Collection of art owned by the British royal family. A video of the ceremony published by British Pathe can be seen here. Her bardic name was “Elisabeth o Windsor”.

The present Archdruid of the Gorsedd, Myrddin ap Dafydd, suggested in 2019 that the Queen was no longer a member because the rules had been changed so that the Gorsedd was a means of honouring people for their contribution to Welsh language culture.

“There was a time when many in Wales thought the royal family promoted Welshness but we know by now this doesn’t work,” he said.

“According to the Orsedd’s solicitor she excommunicated herself in 2006 when it was made clear you had to speak Welsh to be a member of the Orsedd.”

The former Welsh Secretary, Clwyd West MP David Jones attacked his comments at the time.

“It must have been perfectly obvious to Mr ap Dafydd’s predecessors that the Queen was not a Welsh speaker when they honoured her as an ovate in 1946,” he said. “No doubt they sensibly recognised her as a unifying national figure who is above politics.

“She subsequently ensured that the Prince of Wales attended a Welsh university and obtained an understanding of the Welsh language.

“It is a shame that Mr ap Dafydd should now be presiding over what looks very much like an unnecessary political move, which will disappoint the thousands of people who attend the Eisteddfod as a joyous cultural event that brings people together, rather than divides them.

“It is interesting to note that Her Majesty is also patron of An Comunn Gàidhealach, which organises the Scottish Royal National Mòd, the Gaelic equivalent of the Eisteddfod, despite the fact that she does not speak the Gaelic language.”