The British Embassy in Moscow was today forced to issue an official statement confirming that King Charles III is still alive after Russian media claimed he was dead.
A host of Russian news sites and their associated social media accounts reported earlier today that the king had died at the age of 75 from cancer, citing anonymous “media” sources in a inexplicable flow of messages.
This is an image of a clearly false statement from “Buckingham Palace” reporting Charles’ “unexpected death” that has been circulating on social media.
“King Charles III of Great Britain has died at the age of 75, according to media reports,” Russian news agency Sputnik reported.
“There is no information about this on the royal family website or in the British media.”
Minutes later, their stories were updated after they were forced down following reports that the king was in fact not dead.
The British Embassy in Moscow then furiously published on X: “Reports of the death of King Charles III of Great Britain are false!
The British Embassy in kyiv followed shortly after with a statement that read: “We wish to inform you that the news regarding the death of King Charles III is false.”
A host of Russian news sites and their associated social media accounts reported earlier today that the king had died at the age of 75.
The message shared on X by the British Embassy in Moscow which said “reports of the death of King Charles are FALSE”
The British Embassy in Ukraine also released an official statement confirming that King Charles III is still alive after Russian media claimed he was dead.
A tweet from Gazeta.ru fueled rumors that Charles had died
The fake palace announcement was dated today and said: “The king died suddenly yesterday afternoon.”
Several major media outlets reported the fake news, but it was not immediately clear whether they had made a mistake or whether Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine was directly behind the error.
This unhealthy operation involving the monarch follows criticism in Britain and other Western countries regarding Vladimir Putin’s electoral “victory” in a “rigged” presidential election.
The British embassy’s Telegram channel published a notice in Russian emphasizing that the reports were false.
“Reports about the death of King Charles III of Great Britain are false,” the statement said, shortly after the British embassy in Ukraine issued a similar message.
The first outlets to publish the false report were RIA, Sputnik, Readkovka and Mash – staunchly pro-Putin outlets – but all later corrected their versions.
The media Mash wrote: “British King Charles III has died, reports Buckingham Palace. The son of Elizabeth II ascended the throne less than a year ago: the coronation took place on May 6, 2023. He was 75 years old.
It was updated to say “the post turned out to be false” while adding: “Let’s remember that a few months ago he was diagnosed with cancer.”
But the outlet later said: “The false news about the death of Charles III spread quickly and was just as quickly debunked.
“The King of Great Britain is alive and continues to go about his business. At least that’s what Buckingham Palace says.‘
Even Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, joined the fray, posting: “London looks pathetic.”
The first outlets to publish the false report were RIA, Sputnik, Readkovka and Mash – staunchly pro-Putin outlets – but all later corrected their versions.
The Kremlin-linked pro-war media outlet Readovka was one of the first Russian outlets to publish a false statement from Buckingham Palace on the death of King Charles III.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, joined the fray, posting: ‘London looks pathetic’
This unhealthy operation involving the monarch follows criticism in Britain and other Western countries over Vladimir Putin’s “victory” in a “rigged” presidential election.
The pro-Kremlin online outlet BAZA published: “Russian media reported the death of British King Charles III with reference to a document allegedly released by Buckingham Palace.
“Screenshot of message about death of Charles III turned out to be fake.”
The fake palace announcement was dated today and read: “The king died suddenly yesterday afternoon. »
Independent media outlet Meduza said: “A number of media outlets and Telegram channels have reported the death of British King Charles III – referring to a false statement from Buckingham Palace.
“A screenshot of the declaration, which has become a source of information, is provided in particular by the BAZA Telegram channel.
“This statement does not appear on the Royal Family’s website or social media channels.”
Russia’s official news agency RIA Novosti corrected its earlier report while admitting it was based on “rumors”, saying: “The Buckingham Palace press service has denied RIA Novosti rumors about the death of King Charles III.
“He continues to manage official and private affairs.
“Information about the death of Charles appeared some time ago in many Russian sources. The basis was a certain message, the authorship of which was attributed to Buckingham Palace and which, apparently, turned out to be a fake.
The official TASS news agency reported that the story was false.
The Kremlin’s own newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, published by Putin’s government, wrote: “King Charles III continues to carry out his work and private affairs, Buckingham Palace said.
“Previously, many Telegram channels published unverified and false information about the death of the monarch.”
MailOnline has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.