Fact Check

Can the Queen Legally Kill President Trump with a Sword?

"Palace staff have assured the Queen that, according to English law, Trump is a subject of the Crown and can, if judged to be damaging the monarchy, be dispatched without repercussion."

Published Jan. 31, 2017

 (Twocoms / Shutterstock, Inc.)
Image Via Twocoms / Shutterstock, Inc.
Claim:
Queen Elizabeth asserted she has the legal authority to kill President Trump with a sword should he enter Buckingham Palace.

Origin

On 31 January 2017, the British web site The Daily Mash reported that Queen Elizabeth had made a shocking statement regarding her authority should U.S. President Donald Trump visit Buckingham Palace:

THE QUEEN has confirmed that if President Trump makes a state visit, she can kill him with a sword and nobody can touch her.

Palace staff have assured the Queen that, according to English law, Trump is a subject of the Crown and can, if judged to be damaging the monarchy, be dispatched without repercussion.

She said: “I haven’t made up my mind yet. I might."

As is often the case with such items, the original report regarding the British monarch's putative legal authority to slay an American president with impunity quickly became decoupled from its original source when as it was shared via social media.

However, that original source, The Daily Mash, is a satirical web site whose "About" page notes that its material is not factual:

The Daily Mash is a satirical website which publishes spoof articles, i.e. it is all made-up and is not intended, in any way whatsoever, to be taken as factual. Glad we’ve got that sorted.

Although the Queen issued no such statement about her legal authority to do in a U.S. president with a sword, the notion that the reigning Monarch in Britain is indeed above the law (within the realm, at least) is one that has been much discussed and debated over the years.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.