Today in Things We Definitely Didn’t Have on Our Coronation Bingo Card, we need to talk about the spooky clip featuring a cloaked figure that sure looks a lot like the actual Grim Reaper casually walking the hallways at Westminster Abbey during King Charles’ coronation on Saturday.
Royal fans on social media were (justifiably) freaked out by the clip/the menacing figure, which they have been widely describing as both the “grim reaper” and the “death ripper” in posts across pretty much any platform that will allow someone to share a video. You might be thinking, “Well, people are clearly overreacting,” and guessing that the figure is a pretty normal-looking guy in a black hoodie or just a person-shaped shadow that requires a serious flex of the imagination to see as the Grim Reaper. But if you’re thinking/guessing those things, accept an L on this one because, well, just take a look for yourself:
If you need that slowed down or aren’t able to watch the video right now, here’s a screengrab of the coronation’s grim reaper, super casually strolling by like it’s NBD, or, as TikTok user @stxawbs put it in their *chef’s kiss* of a caption, “NAH IT CANT JUST BE ME THAT SAW IT HELP FULL ON SIMS DEATH PERSON OMG”:
Before you scramble to sage your phone and rid it of evil spirits, you should know that the creepy figure behind the viral clip is not actually a grim reaper or supernatural thing of any kind. Newsweek got to the bottom of the mystery by reaching out to Westminster Abbey officials, who “identified the figure as a verger, a member of the abbey community who assists with religious services but who is not a member of the clergy.”
The more you know, right?
Kayleigh Roberts is the weekend editor at Cosmo, focused on celebrity news and royals. She’s a Ravenclaw who would do great things in Slytherin. To learn more about her, google “Leslie Knope eating salad GIF.”
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