Professor who wished Queen ‘excruciating death’ stands by criticism despite backlash

A professor who wished the Queen an “excruciating” death and tweeted that she hoped the monarch would die “in agony” has doubled down on her criticism despite the backlash.

Dr Uju Anya, a Nigerian-American Carnegie Mellon University linguistics professor made the comments as reports emerged that the Queen was in her final hours at Balmoral.

The professor faced criticism on Twitter for the tweet - including from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Piers Morgan, the former who then received criticism himself.

On Wednesday, Dr Anya told the podcast This Week In White Supremacy that she had no regrets about her tweet, which was removed by Twitter.

“I had an emotional reaction. And an emotional outburst,” she told the podcast’s hosts on Wednesday.

“I was triggered by this news. It went deep into pain and trauma for me. Due to my family experience with the rule of this monarch,” she added.

“In other words, I said what I f****** said.”

Dr Anya said the “outburst” was part of an unplanned spontaneous reaction the morning she found out Queen Elizabeth II was under medical supervision.

She said she was surprised by how much attention the tweet received, but said it was designed to educate people.

“I like to teach. I am fundamentally a teacher,” she said. “And I bring evidence and support for the claims that I make.”

In response to the controversy, Anya tweeted: “If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star.”

Dr Anya, who describes herself on Twitter as an “anti-racist” and “feminist,” was born in Nigeria to a Nigerian father and mother from Trinidad and Tobago. Both countries were colonised by the British before Nigeria became independent in 1960 and Trinidad and Tobago followed suit two years later.

Her university condemned the comments in a statement, highlighting the remarks were made on the professor’s social media platform and were not shared by the school.

“We do not condone the offensive and objectionable messages posted by Uju Anya today on her personal social media account,” the university tweeted.

“Free expression is core to the mission of higher education, however, the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution, nor the standards of discourse we seek to foster.”

Anti-monarch protests following the Queen’s death have prompted conversations around freedom of speech after demonstrators were arrested by police and charged with offences such as “breaching the peace”.

They included a woman who held an “abolish monarchy” sign at a proclamation ceremony for King Charles III in Edinburgh who has since been charged with breaching the peace.

A heckler who shouted at Prince Andrew as the Queen’s funeral cortege passed through Edinburgh’s Royal Mile on Monday is also facing the same charge, while a barrister was questioned by an officer after holding up a “blank piece of paper” in Parliament Square.