Royal fans have hit out at Channel 4 after they broadcast a deepfake video of the Queen, showing her mocking Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, and Prince Andrew.
The doctored video was broadcast as a parody of the Queen’s annual Christmas message, with the legitimate version shown on BBC yesterday.
In the fake performance, however, the Queen mocks other members of the Royal Family before dancing on her desk.
The light-hearted video, which was intended in part to demonstrate the dangers of what you see online sparked a furious backlash.
Brexiteer Nigel Farage wasn’t impressed by the video, tweeting before its broadcast “how dare they” in an irate response to the deepfake video.
Supporters of Nigel Farage also expressed their rage on Twitter.
One said that it was appalling and that the Queen had been true in her duty and was still going strong. God save the Queen.
Another exacerbated Briton on Twitter and wrote that they were no royalist really but that the Queen gets it right every time and that the people rightly respects and admires her.
Another Twitter user said that Channel 4’s ludicrously smart deepfake alternative message was a million miles away from the public mood and not nearly as clever or humorous as they believe it is.
In the video the deepfake version of the Queen, she said that one thing that has sustained many of us is our families, which was why she was saddened by the departure of Harry and Meghan.
She then quipped about knowing she would at least have Prince Andrew by her side.
The deepfake was created using computer-generated imagery that showed a digitally animated version of the Queen played by actress Debra Stephenson.
The brief film was loaded with gags about the irrational rush for toilet rolls at the start of the pandemic and showed the Monarch preparing for a dance on Tik Tok, but some people said they didn’t know why such disrespectful trash was even allowed to be aired at all.
However, the Royal Family have always had jokes made about them – remember Spitting Image?
I saw the short film and I thought it was rather entertaining, but of course, if I’d thought otherwise I could have always switched the damn TV off or changed it over to another channel.
But I must confess, it’s good to see the seasonal spirit of goodwill flourishing, and come on, she may be our amazing Queen and respected, but at the end of the day, she’s a Brit, and I’m sure she has a sense of humour, and I bet she had a little smirk on her face.
And I’m sure that the Queen isn’t such a sensitive creature – we had Spitting Image back in the day, and I think if the Queen hadn’t liked that, then it would have been taken off our screens immediately.
And we should all get over it because people are entitled to mock the Queen – she isn’t beyond a joke being made of her, and if she can take the joke, I’m sure everyone else can.
What has the Queen actually done, apart from her job, and she gets paid far in excess for waving and being waited on hand and foot, and what a well-paid job it is too, and what wonderful benefits come with it, and the best thing is, you’ve only got to be pushed out of a specific womb to get the position.
And Royal work, well you have to put that into perspective, don’t you? I mean they’re not exactly on zero-hour contracts and they’re not on minimum wage or doing 12-hour split shifts, and why do the Royal fanatics always suggest that the Royals work tirelessly, when really what they do is nothing to what most people have to endure every day, yet they’re work comes with extraordinary benefits and the best of everything life has to offer.
