QAnon supporter
The “Queen” lives elsewhere! Canadian village defends itself against influx of cult leader
Supporters of the QAnon conspiracy movement see former US President Donald Trump as a fighter against a satanic elite. Cult leader Romana Didulo also takes this approach
© Mario Tama/Getty Images
She is 48 years old, cult leader – and self-proclaimed Queen of Canada. The well-known conspiracy theorist Romana Didulo has made her home in a community of 150 people. However, the villagers don’t like it at all.
“Get out of our city” screams a poster affixed to the radiator grille of a truck in capital letters. It’s just one of many pictures from the Canadian town of Richmound that the media published on Sunday.
The Richmounder message is clear, but it is not actually an expression of open xenophobia. Rather, the anger of the approximately 150 residents of the Canadian village in the southwest of the province of Saskatchewan is directed at a specific person: Romana Didulo. Most people see the 48-year-old as the leader of an absurd cult with close ties to the right-wing extremist conspiracy ideology QAnon. Of course, she sees herself completely differently: as the Queen of Canada.
In any case, one thing is certain for the Richmounders: she, the self-proclaimed majesty, should go. But she has apparently come to stay.
Canada’s “Queen” holds court in an abandoned school
According to media reports, the previous nomads have been residing in Richmound with 15 to 25 people for a week. In the spot surrounded by a sea of fields, they have apparently taken up residence in the abandoned village school without being asked – much to the dismay of the residents. “It is the only place in the village where there is a playground and where the children can ride their bikes safely, far away from the highway,” the BBC quoted local reporter Thomas Fougere as saying. The journalist has been threatened several times since he reported on the group.
Last year they showed how serious the Richmounders are Sunday when much of the community armed with placards marched in tractors, trucks and pickups protesting the whereabouts of Didulo and her court. But the uninvited guests apparently weren’t bothered much.
The residents of Kamsack had proven just a few days earlier that conspiracy theorists can be driven away in this way. Hundreds also took to the streets against Didulo and her group in the small town around 700 kilometers away – successfully. The police eventually escorted the nomads out of the city.
It is questionable whether the Richmounders will achieve a similar victory. “It has become a very tense situation,” said Fougere. Didulo is already looking for craftsmen for construction projects, and some followers have already announced via Telegram that they will travel to Richmound. According to the BBC, there is little citizens themselves can do against the Didulo and their supporters as long as they do not break the law. The land on which they have settled is privately owned, which will make it difficult for the authorities to relocate them.
A Filipino immigrant becomes a cult leader
This is not the first time Didulo, who came to Canada from the Philippines as a teenager, has made headlines. The conspiracy theorist has been traveling around the country with her followers for years, primarily by motorhome. Until recently, they camped away from civilization. That may now change.
Didulo founded several companies before founding her own party, the “Canada 1st Party”, in 2020. This in turn attracted primarily representatives of the right-wing extremist conspiracy ideology QAnon. She subsequently became the leader of her own personality cult, reportedly claiming that she had single-handedly overthrown the Canadian government and was now entitled to the title of Queen of Canada – after all, she was supported by a secret, powerful US organization. Last year she took part in protests with her group, where, among other things, they tried to arrest police officers – the officers had committed “crimes against humanity”.
On the multilingual website of her group “Kingdom of Canada,” she claims the titles of commander-in-chief, head of government and national leader of the indigenous peoples. She also presents her own state flag (a white maple leaf divided by a golden sword on a purple background) and calls for donations.
Didulo issues “royal” decrees via Telegram – and plunges followers into misfortune
Thousands of people follow her on Telegram. Didulo doesn’t just use her reach to spread conspiracy myths, in which she claims, among other things, that former US President Donald Trump is waging an ominous war against a secret elite of Satan worshipers. She also allegedly called for people to be shot who were giving corona vaccinations to children. She herself apparently threatens her opponents with execution. “This is not necessarily a group of harmless people. We’re talking about a cult,” Evan Balgord, executive director of an NGO that monitors extremist groups, told the CBC.
In her role as “Queen” she also offers other services to her followers. Among other things, she wants her followers to have all their bills and debts forgiven “by decree”. This had serious consequences for some of her supporters who took Didulo’s supposed powers too seriously. Some of them even lost their homes, explains extremism expert Christine Sarteschi from Chatham University in Pittsburgh to the BBC.