Stories

‘Gibbo’: The Name That Nearly Broke Twitter and Why

The Name ‘Gibbo’ nearly broke Twitter after a leaked WhatsApp conversation allegedly from a military source said the queen had died.

Pictures of the WhatsApp conversation were shared thousands of times and it was the number one trending topic of conversation on the social media site.

A Royal expert responded via Twitter to announce that the queen was in fact alive and well.

I see we have reached that time of year where I have to dispel rumours of HM's passing.

The Queen is not dead. She is alive & well and is very much looking forward to hosting President Trump and other world leaders at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday for the NATO reception.
— Charlie Proctor (@MonarchyUK) December 1, 2019

Many civilians were also curious as to what the WhatsApp conversation meant, including asking questions like, ‘what is number 1s, 3s and 4s?’.

The British military has many different 'orders of dress' - uniforms to you and me. So to make things easier, they number them, so that there can be no confusion as to what you should be wearing and when.