No, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth did not mention the Philippines in her speech on the novel coronavirus

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on April 9, 2020 at 10:35
  • 2 min read
  • By AFP Philippines

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A graphic has been shared hundreds of times in multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter alongside a claim that it contains a quote from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in which she praises Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for his efforts to curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. The posts allege that the Queen made the remarks during her televised speech on April 6, 2020. However, the claim is false; Duterte was not mentioned in the Queen’s address and the image has been doctored from another graphic that contains a genuine quote by the Queen.

The graphic was published here on Facebook on April 6, 2020. It has been shared more than 1,100 times.   

Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:

Screenshot of Facebook post

The quote in the graphic reads: “Pres. Duterte is the kind of leader who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. Filipinos are very fortunate to have him. Seriously, he looked so overworked. He may not be perfect, but he truly loves his country. Philippines doesn’t have the worst government. It actually has the worst citizens. / Queen Elizabeth II / delivering a message of hope amid the coronavirus pandemic / April 6, 2020”.

The post’s Visayan-language caption translates to English as: “Ouch….”

Queen Elizabeth made a rare televised address on April 6, 2020, thanking healthcare workers and urging a “collective effort and common endeavour”. Here is an AFP report on the speech.

Similar claims that the Queen praised Duterte during her address were also shared on Facebook here, here, here, here, here and here, on Twitter and here and here.  

These claims are false.

A transcript of the Queen’s speech released on the official website of the British Royal Family makes no reference to Duterte or the Philippines. 

The graphic shared in the misleading posts was manipulated from another quote graphic published by Inquirer.net, a Philippine media site. 

Inquirer.net published a side-by-side comparison of the doctored graphic and its original quote card here on its Facebook page on April 7, 2020, warning its readers to "beware of edited images".  

Below is a screenshot of the Inquirer.net’s post: 

Screenshot of Inquirer.net's post

The post's caption reads: “After INQUIRER.net shared on social media an excerpt from Queen Elizabeth II’s Sunday address to the United Kingdom, the same post was manipulated to say that Duterte looked 'overworked' and that the 'Philippines doesn’t have the worst government, it actually has the worst citizens.'"

The original Inquirer.net graphic, published here on Facebook on April 6, 2020, quotes the Queen urging scientific cooperation.

AFP Fact Check has previously debunked a similar claim in 2018 about Queen Elizabeth urging world leaders to emulate Duterte. 

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