Your speculations and ideas of possibilities might entertain yourself, but they don’t interest me.
I have heard your personal opinion, but repeating it doesn’t make it any more than the speculation that it is.
It’s not speculation - it’s informed knowledge about diplomatic protocol. The fact that I used to have to understand these things for a living, and many journalists don’t seem to have to understand anything, makes me fairly confident I know what I am talking about. If you prefer to believe these journalists know what they are talking about, fair enough. They do get it right sometimes.
But controversy sells papers, and that makes money for them. And it’s not likely the average journalist cares about being accurate about the head of the largest single religious grouping on Earth.