Social media has been set ablaze with the unfortunate news of Queen Elizabeth II‘s passing at the age of 96. On every platform, there are tributes, mournings, and retrospectives, and then a weird take from a Garfield fan account that some people think is real.
Garfield, the cat who hates Mondays and loves lasagna, shouldn’t really be in the conversation about the legendary monarch’s passing, but here we are. The tweet in question comes from @GarfieldFanArt, but the account simply says “Garfield” so that probably doesn’t help with the clarity of the situation.
The tweet says “there’s a new king in town” and shows a CGI version of the famous cartoon feline leaning against one of Britain’s best known monuments: Big Ben. Take a look below:
The confusion is probably partly due to the official Garfield account and the fan account sharing the same profile image. The official account, however, has not tweeted at all today (not yet, anyway). Of course, a large number of people are upset, but seem to kind of understand once they realize it’s not an official account.
“For a second I thought this was the verified account, and I went, ‘ooof…poor taste’. Then I saw it was not. Carry on, good people. Carry on,” said user Renee Frechette.
Other bad responses include, “bro,” “Disrespect,” “Unreal,” “Oh my GOD,” “brave” and “WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM.”
To be fair, the whole thing could be a coincidence, as it was posted before the announcement of the Queen’s death, although it was known she wasn’t in great help. Either way, probably intentional to a certain degree.