Woman who claims to be secret queen of Canada develops following among QAnon devotees, report says
‘It’s their endorsement that seems to have been the cause of all of this,’ says expert of QAnon figures
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A conspiracy theorist who claims to be the queen of Canada has reportedly gained thousands of followers online, many of whom are trying to stop the proliferation of Covid vaccinations.
According to Vice, Romana Didulo – a British-Colombian woman who is reportedly in her 50s – is followed by 20,000 users of Telegram, a messaging platform favoured by the far-right and QAnon figures.
In an introductory video on Telegram, Ms Didulo reportedly called herself “the founder and leader of Canada1st”, a fringe political party and “the head of state and commander in chief of Canada, the Republic”.
Canada’s actual head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, has been executed, according to the conspiracy theorist and her followers on Telegram.
Ms Didulo added that she was appointed as Queen by “the same group of people who have helped president Trump”, in an apparent reference to the Capitol riot in January.
According to Vice, her posts on Telegram were soon noticed by figures within the QAnon conspiracy movement, members of whom were accused of taking part in the rioting in the name of Donald Trump.
Because Romana Didulo is an anagram for “I Am Our Donald”, many of her followers believe her allegations are true, reported Vice.
She also claims to be carrying out executions in secret – in apparent reference to QAnon.
“It’s their endorsement that seems to have been the cause of all of this,” said Pete Smith, a journalist for the Canadian Anti-Hate Network of the QAnon figures. “Without them, I don’t believe that there is a Canada1st party like we’re seeing right now."
In recent weeks Ms Didulo has called for Canadians to send cease and desist orders to stop businesses and schools from carrying out Covid vaccinations, or complying with mask mandates – and other demands.
Vice obtained video footage of seemingly ordinary Canadians hanging out a PDF cease and desist order shared by Ms Didulos followers, in the hope of carrying out her demands.
"The speed with which her audience has grown and then how quickly they have become active on the street in real life is extremely significant”, added Mr Smith.
A QAnon influencer, reportedly with more than 30,000 followers online, said of the secret Queen of Canada: “God bless her; Canada needs somebody like that.”
Images of the cease and desist orders have also appeared on social media, to the disbelief of Canadians, one of whom tweeted: “Stupid is everywhere, wtf is this?”
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