True or false King Charles III did not die on March 17, as claimed in a statement attributed to Buckingham Palace and reported by Russian media

The rumor, widely shared by Russian media and Telegram channels, was quickly denied by London, notably through the British embassy in Ukraine.

The king is not dead, long live the king? While the British royal family is already targeted by numerous rumors linked to the media absence of Kate Middleton, it is the sovereign Charles III himself who finds himself, Monday March 18, the target of false theories. On social networks, several viral publications want to believe or imply that the British monarch died the day before.

An image copying the iconography of Buckingham Palace announcements was widely used by Russian media and Telegram channels on Monday. In this screenshot, the blurred, slightly blue outlines of the text betray a low-resolution image unusual for British royal communiqués. The format of the text also does not correspond to the codes generally used for Buckingham’s official declarations, analyzes the Social News Desk of the European Broadcasting Union.

At the same time, several Internet users published images or videos claiming to show the British flag at half-mast above Buckingham Palace. Images that actually date from the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022.

Other accountsalready known for spreading false news, also claimed that the BBC had changed its logo to black to mark mourning – a background that has been adopted for years, recalls the British media The Independent. The various BBC News accounts on the networks still have their red background, late Monday afternoon.

Rumors denied by London

UK embassies in several countries like Ukraine Or Azerbaijan quickly denied the rumors about “A screenshot of a message about the death of Charles III, attributed to Buckingham Palace, was found to be false. Our apologies”, writes the media on Telegram. The royal family has not commented on the rumor, nor has the BBC, the first media informed of important events affecting the royal family.

The royal family has been the subject of numerous rumors in recent months. King Charles III notably announced in February that he was suffering from cancer, which required him to refrain from any public engagement during his treatment. Princess of Wales Kate Middleton has not made a media appearance since her abdominal operation in January for an unspecified reason, fueling concern among the British.