By Sammie Jones And Victoria Mckeown-
British viewers have heavily criticised Channel 4’s fake Queen’s speech which showed Her Majesty dancing and joking about Megxit.
The broadcaster took viewers by surprise with a “deepfake” of Her Majesty dancing on a table , with insensitive jokes about Prince Andrew, Harry and Meghan.
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The satirical filming of the Queen dancing on a table during Channel 4’s ‘deepfake’ version of the monarch’s annual speech, has stirred emotions the wrong way. The film goes to far in its fictitious display of matters too serious to laugh about.
During Channel 4’s alternative Christmas message, the Queen, played by actress Debra Stephenson, breaks into a TikTok dance routine which she hopes will get her onto Strictly Come Dancing. Many members of the British public have strongly objected to the satirical film, which they find deeply offensive.
In the objectionable film, The queen speaks “plainly and from the heart” in the address to reveal what she and Prince Philip have been up to in lockdown, revealing her penchant for “Netflix and Phil”.
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The fictitious monarch then goes on to address her son Andrew, caught up in the widely covered sex scandal, and also makes reference to grandson Harry and his wife Meghan’s move to Canada and then Los Angeles.
The Queen says: “Which is why I was so saddened by the departure of Harry and Meghan. There are few things more hurtful than someone telling you they prefer the company of Canadians.
“But at least I still have my beloved Andrew close by. It seems unlikely he’ll be heading to North America any time soon.”
Finalising the address, she offers a stark warning against misinformation and “deepfakes”, warning viewers to question “whether what we see and hear is always as it seems”.
The five-minute fake address – screened after families gathered around the telly to watch the real Queen deliver a rousing address to millions trapped in lockdown led to multiple objections.
One Twitter-user said: “Disgusting. The Queen has been steadfast in her duty and is still going strong. God save the Queen.”
Another wrote: “I am so irritated by Channel 4’s mean spirited crashing of the Queen’s Christmas message that I am going to watch the real one, even though I don’t normally. We’ve all had a sh*t year Channel 4, there was no need for this.”
Politician, Nigel Farage, expressed his objection to the film. He tweeted ‘How dare they’ in response to the video.
Twitter users expressed their outrage in numbers, one writing: ‘Disgusting. The Queen has been steadfast in her duty and still going strong. God save the Queen.’
‘I’ no royalist really but The Queen gets it right every time and the public rightly respect and admire her,’ another said. ‘Channel 4’s ludicrously smart “deep fake” alternative message is a million miles away from the public mood – and not nearly as clever or funny as they think it is.’
Families
A spoof Elizabeth II, said: ‘One thing that has sustained many of us is our families, which is why I was so saddened by the departure of Harry and Meghan.
Brit Trish Sayers said that she would rather go and “hold my hands on the hot plate for 10 minutes than watch this ‘woke’ rubbish.”
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said: “It is in really poor taste and didn’t look that funny.”There are a lot of people you can ridicule but not the Queen.
Creepy
One twitter user replied to the TV channel’s tweet: “That is so creepy. You remember that the Queen is a real person, actually alive and all that? Not just a character to play with?”
Another wrote: “Ffs. Channel 4 missing the mood of the country and plumbing new depths in the name of “comedy”. Would rather watch her inspiring speech from lockdown than this.”
A third added: “I’ve not been a fan of the royal family for a long time, but the way CH4 are doing this is utterly distasteful and downright diabolical. CH4 aren’t attacking her for her deeds, they’re attacking her because she’s the head of state for a country CH4 despises.”
Ian Katz, director of programmes at Channel 4, told the Mail Online: “Deepfake technology is the frightening new frontier in the battle between misinformation and truth.
Artificial Intelligence
Deepfake videos are made using artificial intelligence technology which can manipulate someone’s face in a video to make it look like they are saying something different to what they are actually saying in real life.
A machine learning algorithm swaps out the faces frame-by-frame until it spits out a realistic, but fake, video
Growing concern has been expressed among experts that convincing deepfakes could be used to spread misinformation and fake news on social media.
Threat
Canada’s cybersecurity agency, The Communications Securities Establishment, last year warned that deepfakes pose a threat to democracy.
“This year’s Alternative Christmas Address – seemingly delivered by one of the most familiar and trusted figures in the nation – is a powerful reminder that we can no longer trust our own eyes.”
Director Bartlett said: “This was a great project to be asked to direct.
“Deepfake is an interesting spin-off from the recent advances made in machine learning and AI and, while it is a powerful new technique for image-makers everywhere, it is also a tool that can be used to misrepresent and deceive.
“With Channel 4, we wanted to create a sequence that is hopefully entertaining enough that it will be seen by a lot of people and thereby spreads the very real message that images cannot always be trusted.”
“Deepfake technology has become increasingly prevalent over recent years and can be used to create convincing but completely manufactured video content of celebrities and high-profile figures.
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