Claim
On Thursday, September 15, 2022, the Zambian Telegraph online page published an article alleging that the New United Kingdom Monarch leader, King Charles III, had turned down a request by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa to attend the official funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. In the article, it is alleged that President Mnangagwa had written to King Charles through his aide to find out why he had not been invited to the funeral. The article also asserts that King Charles III declined President Mnangagwa’s request due to the restrictions on travel and active sanctions imposed on the Zimbabwean government for continued human rights abuses. The letter alleged to have been authored and signed by Miss Jennie Vine and addressed to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Frederick Shava was also circulating on various social media platforms.
Rating Justification
iVerify Zambia fact-checking process has determined as false the claim by the Zambian Telegraph that the New United Kingdom Monarch leader, King Charles III, had turned down a request by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa to attend the official funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster. iVerify examined a statement issued by the British Embassy in Zimbabwe on their official Facebook page, UK in Zimbabwe and on the @UKinZimbabwe Twitter page. The UK Embassy dismissed it as “fake” a letter circulating on social media platforms and purportedly to have been written by King Charles III’s Aide. Therefore, the claim by the Zambian Telegraph that the New United Kingdom Monarch leader, King Charles III, had turned down a request by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa to attend the official funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster is false.
