Buckingham Palace has spoken out refuting claims of King Charles' death. Photo / Getty Images
Buckingham Palace has spoken out refuting claims of King Charles' death. Photo / Getty Images
A false statement announcing the death of the King has been circulated in Russia.
The notice, which was purported to have been released by Buckingham Palace, said: “The King passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon.”
It was printed on what appeared to be official headed notepaper featuring the royal crest, and stated that the message, dated Monday, March 18, was from Royal Communications.
Russian media running with the mega scoop that King Charles III has died backed up by this very convincing royal announcement that looks like it was put together in OpenOffice pic.twitter.com/ZDqPbZArcq
The statement fuelled global speculation about the Royal family, gaining so much traction that the British embassy in Ukraine had to issue a statement refuting the claims.
“We would like to inform you that the news about the death of King Charles III is fake,” the embassy wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Buckingham Palace was also dragged into the situation, telling Tass, the Russian news agency: “We are pleased to confirm that the King continues to fulfil his work duties and attend to private affairs.”
The false statement was published by Baza and Mash, two popular Russian Telegram channels, before being picked up by Russian media outlets including Gazeta.Ru, a news website based in Moscow.
Sputnik, the Russian news wire, reported: “King Charles III of Great Britain has died at the age of 75, according to media reports. There is no information about this on the Royal family website or in the British media.”
Social media posts that circulated the stories were accompanied by images purporting to show that the Union flag at Buckingham Palace was flying at half-mast.
King Charles and Queen Camilla pictured in February after his prostate cancer diagnosis. Photo / Getty Images
The Russian news stories were later updated when the rumours were denied. It was unclear where the fake statement had originated, with some claiming that Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine was responsible.
It came hot on the heels of a social media frenzy whipped up by false rumours that the BBC was awaiting a significant royal announcement.
Such was the level of engagement that #royalannouncement was trending on X on Monday for the third consecutive day, while Forbes, the US publication, reported claims that the BBC was “on alert” for an unspecified major announcement from the Royal family.
The princess was forced to admit that she had edited the image and apologised for any confusion caused. Since then, interest in her whereabouts has only increased, with the Sun reporting on its front page that she had been spotted at a Windsor farm shop.
Kensington Palace continues to insist that the princess continues to recover from surgery and hopes to return to public duties after Easter.
The King, who was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in January, continues his work behind the scenes, avoiding large public groups on medical advice as he undergoes treatment.
