Fact Check: Zim President WAS invited to Queen’s funeral

The United Kingdom (UK) embassy in Zimbabwe took to Twitter to slam claims that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s request to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral was denied.

A fake letter claimed that Mnangagwa’s request to attend the Queen’s funeral could not be granted

A fake letter has been circulating on social media purporting to be from the British royal family. The fake letter states that Mnangagwa’s request to attend the Queen’s funeral could not be granted stating that it goes against restrictions.

“President Mnangagwa’s request cannot be granted as it goes against the restrictions including those of travel that the United Kingdom has in place with regards to many of the Zimbabwean leadership and those connected to them. There are also reports of non-adherence with respect to human rights occurring in Zimbabwe,” part of the fake letter reads.

The letter is signed by Miss Jennie Vine and thanks Mnangagwa for his message of condolences. The fake letter also speaks about Zimbabwe applying to rejoin the Commonwealth.

The UK embassy in Zimbabwe responds

In response, the UK embassy in Zimbabwe wrote:

“President Mnangagwa has been invited to attend the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on Monday. The letter below is fake.”

President Mnangagwa along with President Cyril Ramaphosa and others are expected to travel to London for the Queen’s funeral. Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey on Monday 19, September.

Queen Elizabeth II: Will the diamond ‘stolen’ from SA be returned?

Meanwhile, it was reported that the late and longest reigning British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II owned the largest clear cut diamond in the world known as The Great Star of Africa which was mined on 26 January 1905 in Pretoria in Gauteng, South Africa and was reportedly stolen. 

On 26 June a 3,106-carat diamond was discovered from the Premier Mine. The Great Star of Africa was the largest stone cut from the diamond. The 530 carats gem is approximately worth between $400 million (roughly R 6 947 000 000) and $2 billion (roughly R34 685 200 000).

Now that Queen Elizabeth II has passed away, the question that lingers on everyone’s lips in the social media streets is will The Great Star of Africa be returned “home”? Read the full story here.