A comedian tweeted this as a joke and the Sun’s political editor said it for real
The Queen has asked Prince Charles to lay her wreath on Remembrance Sunday and will watch from a balcony instead.
Newspaper reports said it was a ‘further sign of the gradual transition of duties within the royal family’ and an ‘acknowledgement’ of the 91-year-old monarch’s age.
But it wasn’t good enough for the Sun’s political editor, Tom Newton Dunn, who tweeted this.
In a slightly unusual case of life imitating art, comedian @DaftLimmy had tweeted something similar the night before. As a joke.
Disrespectful to our troops. She needs to go. https://t.co/NOcXVAZVDG
— Limmy (@DaftLimmy) October 11, 2017
Except Newton Dunn meant it for real.
Tom she's still a human being…
— Emily Ashton (@elashton) October 12, 2017
So were the 800k British soldiers killed in WW1!
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) October 12, 2017
Here’s what people made of it on Twitter.
The idea The Queen doesn’t respect our war dead is a take so hot it could melt steel beams https://t.co/Zbn9ypuTQl
— Ned Donovan (@Ned_Donovan) October 12, 2017
If Tom Newton Dunn is unwilling to say it, I will. The Queen has a moral duty to run the London marathon in support of Help For Heroes.
— Kit Lovelace (@kitlovelace) October 12, 2017
Clean up on aisle 6. The Sun's Political Editor has just wet himself pic.twitter.com/sYPXO3CRl3
— The Sun Apologies (@SunApology) October 12, 2017
Portrait of a man who is completely normal and fine https://t.co/WHVBESy4bq
— Hussein Kesvani (@HKesvani) October 12, 2017
Crowd silently watches a 91-year-old woman crawl, painfully on her knees towards the cenotaph. Tom Newton Dunn bursts into loud applause. pic.twitter.com/KHZfkR0CpL
— Angry Scotland (@AngryScotland) October 12, 2017
On her KNEES if necessary! https://t.co/rA0lIMnXKN
— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) October 12, 2017
If she dies, she dies. https://t.co/NjsauLlXot
— barney farmer (@barneyfarmer) October 12, 2017
The Sun’s political editor later deleted his tweet.
Tom Newton-Dunn doesn't actually believe this, of course. He's "virtue signalling." He's saying what he thinks The Sun readers want to hear.
— hrtbps (@hrtbps) October 12, 2017
Yes but they got this wrong. Ppl don't want to see 91 Queen 'crawling' to Cenotaph when she can pay her respects w dignity from the balcony
— chi onwurah (@ChiOnwurah) October 12, 2017
Ok, I'll delete this, as it's obviously causing unintended offence. But I still want our monarch to lead remembrance.
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) October 12, 2017
That's a first for the Sun, *unintentionally* causing offence.
— Phil (@fatboyfat) October 12, 2017
And he's deleted the tweet. Oh well, here's a screengrab for clarity. pic.twitter.com/YWophD9gM5
— Rob Manuel (@robmanuel) October 12, 2017