‘King Charles is NOT dead’: British embassy in Moscow furiously denies after Russian media shared false Buckingham Palace statement claiming Monarch ‘died unexpectedly yesterday afternoon’
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 had died.
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 due to cancer complications, citing unnamed “media” sources in an unexplained flurry of messages.
It came after an image of a patently false 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 news channel Sputnik reported.
‘There is no information about this on the royal family’s website or in the British media.’
Minutes later, their stories were updated after they were forced to climb down following reports that the king was indeed not dead.
The British Embassy in Moscow then furiously posted to X: ‘Reports of the death of King Charles III of Great Britain are fake!’
The British Embassy in Kiev followed shortly afterwards with a statement saying: ‘We would like to inform you that the news of the death of King Charles III is fake.’
A large number 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
The British Embassy of Ukraine also issued an official statement confirming that King Charles III is still alive, after Russian media claimed he had died
A tweet from Gazeta.ru perpetuated the rumors that Charles had died
The false palace announcement was dated today and read: ‘The king died unexpectedly yesterday afternoon’
Several prominent media outlets reported on 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 it.
The sick stunt involving the monarch followed criticism in Britain and other Western countries over Vladimir Putin’s “victory” in a “rigged” presidential election.
The British Embassy’s Telegram channel posted a message in Russian to emphasize that the reports were fake.
“Reports of the death of King Charles III of Great Britain are fake,” the announcement said, shortly after the British embassy in Ukraine issued a similar message.
The first media outlets to publish the false report were RIA, Sputnik, Readkovka and Mash – staunchly pro-Putin channels – but they all later corrected their stories.
Mashmedia wrote: ‘British King Charles III has died, Buckingham Palace reports. Elizabeth II’s son took 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 message turned out to be fake’ and added: ‘Let’s not forget that he was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago.’
But the newspaper later stated: ‘The fake news about Charles III’s death spread quickly and was just as quickly debunked.
‘The King of Great Britain is alive and going about his business. At least that’s what Buckingham Palace says.‘
Even Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, joined the fray, writing: “London looks pathetic.”
The first media outlets to spread the fake report were RIA, Sputnik, Readkovka and Mash – staunchly pro-Putin channels – but they all later corrected their stories
Kremlin-affiliated pro-war media outlet Readovka was one of the first Russian media sources to post a false Buckingham Palace statement on the death of King Charles III
Spokesperson Maria Zakharova for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov joined the fray, writing: ‘London looks pathetic’
The sick stunt involving the monarch followed criticism in Britain and other Western countries over Vladimir Putin’s ‘victory’ in a ‘rigged’ presidential election
Pro-Kremlin BAZA online media reported: ‘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 false palace announcement was dated today and read: “The king died unexpectedly yesterday afternoon.”
Independent outlet Meduza stated: ‘A number of media and Telegram outlets reported the death of British King Charles III – citing a false statement from Buckingham Palace.
“A screenshot of the statement, which became a news source, is provided in particular by the channel BAZA Telegram.
“This statement is not on the royal family’s website or social networks.”
Russian state news channel RIA Novosti corrected its earlier report and admitted it was based on “rumors,” stating: “The Buckingham Palace press service denied RIA Novosti rumors about the death of King Charles III.
“He continues to conduct official and private business.
“Information about Charles’ death appeared some time ago in many Russian sources. The basis for this was a certain message, the authorship of which was attributed to Buckingham Palace and which apparently turned out to be false.’
State news agency TASS reported that the story was fake.
The Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Kremlin’s own newspaper published by Putin’s government, wrote: ‘King Charles III continues to conduct work and private affairs, Buckingham Palace said.
“Previously, many Telegram channels published unverified and false information about the monarch’s death.”
MailOnline has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.