Debunked: The creepy and real identity of the mystery Grim Reaper at the Coronation

Sadly it wasn’t Ar Di x


We need to talk about the Grim Reaper who casually walked past King Charles’ Coronation this weekend at Westminster Abbey. Diehard Diana fans are suggesting the Grim Reaper was actually Diana coming back to claim her title as Queen and give Camilla what for.

If you haven’t seen the viral video of the Grim Reaper at the Coronation you might be thinking people are overreacting but if you have seen it then you understand why so many people are justifiably freaked out.

Grim Reaper Coronation

via TikTok

Others who watched the Coronation live questioned if this figure was a witch. Ahead of the Coronation ceremony, a coven of witches announced they would accompany the festivities with a ritual of their own, during which they would cast spells for good weather during the coronation and health for the new monarch, The Sun reported. If they actually did perform their ritual then the weather part didn’t exactly work well.

Is Westminster Abbey haunted?

Westminster Abbey is commonly known as one of the most haunted places in the UK. So it was pretty brave of Charles coming here to be crowned amongst several ghosts. Westminster Abbey has hosted at least 15 royal weddings, survived the Civil War, Blitz and been the venue for the burials of eight Prime Ministers and 16 different monarchs.

People often speak of three main ghosts that stalk the halls of Westminster Abbey – one of them could have taken the form of the Grim Reaper who attended the Coronation. The first ghost is John Bradshaw, the man who sentenced King Charles I to death and who died on Halloween 1659. The second ghost is the Unknown Warrior from the First World War. The third ghost is Father Benedictus, a holy man who was believed to have been killed inside the Abbey during a robbery which went wrong in the 16th century.

But thankfully all of these options can be denied by cold hard facts from officials at Westminster Abbey.

Right, was the Grim Reaper at the King’s Coronation?

Newsweek got to the bottom on the mystery and reached out to Westminster Abbey officials who denied the Grim Reaper was present. Instead, the ghostly Death Reaper at the Coronation was “identified as a verger, a member of the abbey community who assists with religious services but who is not a member of the clergy.”

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