Watch: Australian broadcasters fail to identify UK PM at Queen's funeral; internet in splits

Sep 20, 2022 - 11:30

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Watch: Australian broadcasters fail to identify UK PM at Queen's funeral; internet in splits

Queen Elizabeth II was finally laid to rest on Monday, 19 September, at London’s Westminster Abbey. The world watched the historic event live as the UK’s longest reigning monarch was put to rest, with many high-profile world leaders and members of the British royal family in attendance. Hundreds of foreign leaders including US President Joe Biden, Indian President Droupadi Murmu, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were at the ceremony. The newly-elected UK prime minister Liz Truss was also in attendance. Apart from her, former UK PMs Boris Johnson, Theresa May, and David Cameron were also present at the event.

However, it was the British Prime Minister’s arrival that caught the Internet’s attention. It was during the live coverage of the Queen’s funeral that an Australian media channel failed to identify Liz Truss and instead termed her to be one of the “local dignitaries and minor royals.”

A video of the same has gone viral on social media and shows the British Prime Minister along with her husband coming out of their vehicle as the TV presenters Tracy Grimshaw and Peter Overton struggled to identify the two.

Watch the video:

Australian presenters Peter Overton and Tracy Grimshaw unable to identify UK PM Liz Truss. pic.twitter.com/uG0eQPqBqN
— Shahryar Sultan (@Shahryar_Sultan) September 19, 2022

As the two commentators started speaking, Grimshaw asked on who the two personalities are following which Overton replied by stating that they are hard to identify, but seem ‘minor Royals’.

Continuing with the confusion, Grimshaw further said, “We can’t spot everyone, unfortunately. They look like they could well be local dignitaries, it’s hard to see.” Finally, after a brief pause, the two realised their mistake and said that it was the new British Prime Minister, Liz Truss.

However, it took just a matter of seconds for the incident to go viral. Viewers who were watching the live coverage were already all over social media screaming out that the UK prime minister had been misidentified as a “minor Royal or local dignitary”.

Many also shared the clip of the commentary and further cracked jokes over the on-air blunder.

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