We came across this post circulating on various social media channels:

According to the post, which contains a letter allegedly from Buckingham Palace, President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe was rejected from attending Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

The letter, addressed to Mr Frederick Shava, Zimbabwe’s minister of foreign affairs and international trade, begins by thanking Shava for requesting an invitation to the funeral on behalf of Mnangagwa. However, it informs Shava that the request cannot be granted as there are restrictions in place against “many of the Zimbabwean Governmental leadership and those connected to them”. It also notes concern from the UK, alluding to “confirmed reports of non adherence to respecting human rights” in Zimbabwe.

A quick search on this found a tweet from the official account of the British Embassy in Zimbabwe, stating that the letter is fake and President Mnangagwa has been invited to attend the funeral.

According to Zimbabwean reports, Shava was tasked to represent President Mnangagwa at the Queen’s funeral as Mnangagwa was scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly on the same day.

The claim that President Mnangagwa was rejected from attending Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is thus false. While he did not attend the funeral due to other commitments, he was indeed invited.

According to the BBC, heads of state from several countries, including Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Belarus and Myanmar had not been invited to the funeral while others including North Korea and Nicaragua had been invited to send only ambassadors.