King Charles’ grimmest guest exposed
<p dir="ltr">In the months leading up to King Charles III’s extravagant coronation, the guest list was a hot topic. </p>
<p dir="ltr">From “will she or won’t she?” discussions surrounding Meghan Markle to the “who’s who?” of British high society, there was always something on hand to pick apart. But one guest that no-one had seen coming - except perhaps in some of the internet’s darkest jokes - was the Grim Reaper.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The cloaked figure was spotted during Charles’ May 6 coronation at Westminster Abbey, scurrying past a doorway with a long thin staff in hand, reminiscent of the reaper’s scythe or Charon’s ferry oar.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Those determined to see some Harry and Meghan drama transpire joked that it may have been the prince’s wife in disguise, or even the late Diana back for “revenge”, and social media was rife with jokes, though most were of the opinion that the mysterious guest was none other than the fabled Grim Reaper. </p>
<p dir="ltr">One Twitter user wasted no time in sharing a clip of the figure’s appearance at the abbey, asking if anyone else was seeing the same thing. </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Anyone else just notice the Grim Reaper at Westminster Abbey? 👀<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Coronation?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Coronation</a> <a href="https://t.co/77s4XIY17i">pic.twitter.com/77s4XIY17i</a></p>
<p>— Joe (@realjoegreeeen) <a href="https://twitter.com/realjoegreeeen/status/1654774890237394945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">“Yep, had to pause & rewind to get a pic,” one like-minded soul wrote in response, “couldn't decide if it was Death (Pratchett would be proud) or maybe Darth Vader!”</p>
<p dir="ltr">“High security should allow the identity of the grim reaper to be revealed. No doubt this is an official walk-in,” another said. </p>
<p dir="ltr">“I thought I was seeing things when this happened,” one user admitted, “would love to know who it was.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Diana getting her revenge,” another decided. </p>
<p dir="ltr">There was, of course, another possibility, as someone pointed out when they wrote “Charles got pranked.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">When footage was uploaded to TikTok, alongside the caption “NAH IT CANT JUST BE ME THAT SAW IT”, the response was similar, with the video collecting over 31k comments, and 21 million views. </p>
<p dir="ltr">“Grim reaper Casually invited to the coronation as a security guard,” one user said. </p>
<p dir="ltr">“That is Diana,” another declared.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, someone was simply of the opinion that “Lizzy [was] coming back for her crown”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Thankfully, they weren’t left to ponder it for long, with a Westminster Abbey spokesperson putting the grim theories to rest, confirming the figure’s identity as a member of the abbey community. More specifically, as a verger, an individual who assists with religious services but who is not actually a member of the clergy itself.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Twitter</em></p>
