Is Queen Elizabeth II taking ivermectin? TV blunder fuels false rumours about her COVID treatment
Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen had tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday
On Sunday, it was announced that the world’s longest-reigning current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, had tested positive for COVID-19.
The news of the 95-year-old sovereign’s diagnosis sparked media attention worldwide, including in Australia, where she has been the head of state since her coronation in 1953.
But the story also sparked a conspiracy theory, after an editing mistake by an Australian news programme appeared to suggest the Queen was being given ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug that has become popular among anti-vaxxers and COVID-19 sceptics.
The Nine Network’s A Current Affair programme quickly apologised for the mistake and re-edited the segment on the Queen’s COVID-19 diagnosis, saying “we do not suggest the Queen is using ivermectin”.
Buckingham Palace has not commented on the specific details of the Queen’s treatment, but the drug is not approved for use as a COVID-19 treatment in the United Kingdom, where she lives.
