Queen Elizabeth II’s death on September 8 2022 led to significant social media discussions about history, colonization, monarchy, and the future; in the middle of that milieu, a clip of Irish dancers performing to Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” outside Buckingham Palace spread like wildfire:
Broadly, “Irish Twitter” became a popular trending topic in its own right (owing to historically tense relations between Ireland and the UK). Several users referenced being entertained by “Irish Twitter” content on September 8 2022 (or extended whatever the “opposite of condolences” might be):
Fact Check
Claim: A very popular video shows Irish dancers doing a performance outside Buckingham Palace to “Another One Bites the Dust” after the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8 2022.
Description: A video circulated widely on social media purporting to show Irish dancers performing outside Buckingham Palace to ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022.
The clip of the Irish dancers bore TikTok watermarks and elements, along with the username @_cairde. Text apparently from a TikTok shown on the screen seemed to hint at the news of the monarch’s death:
Could you pls go outside Buckingham palace that would actually be brilliant
On TikTok, @_cairde was a verified account, and its bio read: “Group of lads Irish dancing ????????.” We were unable to locate the TikTok variation; however, on Twitter, @_cairde had shared the clip months before, on January 18 2022 (captioned “Dancing to ‘Queen’ for the Queen ???? Buckingham Palace, London”):
Regarding the TikTok iteration, an Associated Press fact check about the video suggested it was in a reply, rather than on @_cairde’s TikTok timeline:
However, the clip was not posted on [September 8 2022], but months ago, on Jan. 18 [2022]. The video was posted on Cairde’s TikTok account as a reply to another user, who had commented on a video of the group dancing in Trafalgar Square with: “Could you pls go outside Buckingham palace that would actually be brilliant.”
The group has posted many videos dancing in front of international landmarks, including Times Square, the White House and the Eiffel Tower.
Cairde did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The queen died at Balmoral Castle, her summer residence in Scotland, according to the palace.
On September 8 2022, a group of Irish dancers performing to the Queen song, “Another One Bites the Dust” was hugely popular on Twitter and other social media platforms in the wake of the announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. The clip is real, but it was filmed in January 2022, not as a reaction to the events of September 2022.
- Irish dancers Buckingham Palace | Twitter
- Irish Twitter | Twitter
- I didn’t even *KNOW* there was an Irish Twitter, but let me tell you, THERE IS. | Twitter
- On behalf of Native Twitter, I would like to extend my congratulations to Irish Twitter on this amazing day. | Twitter
- Dancing to ‘Queen’ for the Queen ???? Buckingham Palace, London | @_cairde/Twitter
- Irish dance video was posted months before Queen Elizabeth’s death