This irreverent fake is currently being shared by users on social media.
The video is posted with the claim that the woman in the clip is the late Queen Elizabeth II, who – according to one user – was throwing food at African children like animals.
The clip is used to raise public spirits against the deceased queen. But what is the video really all about?
The fact that the clip shows Queen Elizabeth II is mathematically impossible.
The video can be found in the online catalog of the work of the film pioneers Lumière brothers.
It is noted here that the clip was created between April 1899 and March 1900 – and thus decades before the birth of Elizabeth II, who saw the light of day in 1926.
According to the catalogue, the women in the video are Madame Paul Doumer and her daughter. Other facts that need to be corrected: Instead of food, the mother-daughter team throws coins. Instead of in Africa, the video is made in today’s Vietnam.
The case makes it clear that historical recordings with a low level of detail can very easily be taken out of context by misleading accompanying texts.
Queen Elizabeth II allegedly appears in a video that was recorded decades before her birth.
How do we check videos for manipulation in the editorial office? It is important to look at the details. The individual frames of a video often reveal whether a video has been edited. We take a close look at each image and enlarge individual sections. Indications of a fake are, for example: lack of motion blur, unnatural shadows or editing errors. The general rule at stern is: Seriousness before speed. We always double-check facts and material thoroughly before publishing them. For this we work with the cross-editorial “Team Verification” together with RTL, NTV, RTL2, Radio NRW.