The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has arrested alleged cult leader Romana Didulo, a Filipina who calls herself the “Queen of the Kingdom of Canada,” during a raid on a compound in Richmound, Saskatchewan.
Didulo was livestreaming when officers in tactical gear entered her room and ordered her to surrender. She complied peacefully. Sixteen of her followers were also taken into custody.
RCMP Inspector Ashley St. Germaine said the operation was carried out after authorities received reports that one of the compound’s occupants was armed. The property, a privately owned decommissioned school, had been occupied by Didulo and her group.
“A search warrant was obtained after we received a report that one of the occupants was in possession of a firearm. At this time, no charges have been laid. We have located and seized four replica handguns — one inside the building and three inside vehicles,” St. Germaine told reporters.
Police confirmed that Didulo is in custody but did not disclose the identities of the other detainees.
Following her arrest, chaos erupted outside the police station where she was brought after several of her followers attempted to storm the facility. Some were arrested.
Didulo, who was born in the Philippines, had been living with her followers in Richmound for the past two years, promoting claims of sovereignty and urging Canadians to disregard the country’s laws. She has declared herself “Queen, Commander-in-Chief, and Head of Government,” even releasing video messages directing the Canadian military to open borders with the United States in preparation for a supposed “World War III operation.”
Her movement, which emerged from the QAnon conspiracy theory, has adopted the Sovereign Citizen ideology that rejects government authority.
The RCMP has yet to release the full list of those arrested or the specific charges Didulo may face as investigations continue.
