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The British embassy in Moscow was today forced to give an official statement confirming King Charles III is still alive after Russian media claimed he had died.
A host of Russian news sites and their associated social media accounts reported earlier today that the King had died aged 75 as a result of cancer complications, citing unnamed ‘media’ sources in an inexplicable stream of posts.
It came as an image of a clearly fake statement from ‘Buckingham Palace’ reporting Charles’ ‘unexpected death’ was circulated on social media.
‘King Charles III of Great Britain has died at the age of 75, according to media reports,’ Russian newswire 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 to climb down following reports the King was in fact not dead.
The British embassy in Moscow then furiously posted on X: ‘Reports of the death of King Charles III of Great Britain are fake!’
The British Embassy in Kyiv followed soon after with a statement that read: ‘We would like to inform you that the news about the death of King Charles III is fake.’
A host of Russian news sites and their associated social media accounts reported earlier today that the King had died aged 75
The post shared on X by the British Embassy in Moscow which read ‘reports about the death of King Charles are FAKE’
Ukraine’s British embassy also gave an official statement confirming King Charles III is still alive after Russian media claimed he had died
A tweet by Gazeta.ru perpetuated the rumours that Charles had died
The fake palace announcement was dated today and said: ‘The King passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon’
Several prominent outlets reported the bogus news but it was not immediately clear whether they had made an error or whether Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine was directly behind it.
The sick stunt involving the monarch followed criticism in Britain and other Western countries of Vladimir Putin’s election ‘victory’ in a ‘rigged’ presidential election.
The British embassy’s Telegram channel posted a notice in Russian to stress the reports were fake.
‘Reports about the death of King Charles III of Great Britain are fake,’ said the announcement, shortly after the British Embassy in Ukraine issued a similar message.
Early outlets running the fake report were RIA, Sputnik, Readkovka and Mash – staunchly pro-Putin outlets – but all later corrected their stories.
Mash media outlet wrote: ‘Britain’s King Charles III has died, Buckingham Palace reports. 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 updated to say ‘the message turned out to be fake’ while adding: ‘Let us remember that a few months ago he was diagnosed with cancer.’
But the outlet later stated: ‘The fake news about the death of Charles III quickly spread 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.’
Early outlets running the fake report were RIA, Sputnik, Readkovka and Mash – staunchly pro-Putin outlets – but all later corrected their stories
The Kremlin-linked pro-war media outlet Readovka was one of the first Russian media sources to post a fake Buckingham Palace statement about the death of King Charles III
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova joined the fray, posting: ‘London looks pathetic’
The sick stunt involving the monarch followed criticism in Britain and other Western countries of Vladimir Putin’s election ‘victory’ in a ‘rigged’ presidential election
Pro-Kremlin BAZA online media posted: ‘The Russian media reported the death of British King Charles III with reference to a document allegedly published by Buckingham Palace.
‘The screenshot of the message about the death of Charles III turned out to be fake.’
The fake palace announcement was dated today and said: ‘The King passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon.’
Independent outlet Meduza stated: ‘A number of media and Telegram channels reported the death of the British King Charles III – with reference to a fake statement from Buckingham Palace.
‘A screenshot of the statement, which became a news source, is provided, in particular, by the BAZA Telegram channel.
‘This statement is not on the website or social networks of the royal family.’
Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti corrected its earlier report while admitting it was based on ‘rumours’, stating: ‘The press service of Buckingham Palace denied RIA Novosti rumours about the death of King Charles III.
‘He continues to conduct official and private affairs.
‘Information about Charles’ death appeared some time ago in many Russian sources. The basis for it was a certain message, the authorship of which was attributed to Buckingham Palace and which, apparently, turned out to be a fake.’
State news agency TASS reported that the story was fake.
The Kremlin’s own newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, published by Putin’s government, wrote: ‘King Charles III continues to carry out 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.
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