King Charles was spotted leaving Windsor Castle this morning, hours after Russian media claimed he had died.
His Majesty, 75, who continues treatment for cancer, sat in the back of a royal limousine as he left his home in Berkshire.
Yesterday, the British Embassy in Moscow was forced to make an official statement confirming that King Charles III is still alive, after Russian media claimed he had died.
A large number of Russian news sites and their associated social media accounts reported that the king had died due to cancer complications, citing anonymous “media sources” in an inexplicable flurry of messages.
An image of an obviously false statement from ‘Buckingham Palace’ reporting Charles’ ‘unexpected death’ circulated on social media.
It comes after the Princess of Wales looked ‘happy, healthy and relaxed’ with Prince William as the couple visited a farm shop near their home at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor on Saturday.
A royal source said the outing should undermine wild conspiracy theories about her health.
King Charles was spotted leaving Windsor Castle this morning, hours after Russian media claimed he had died
His Majesty, 75, sat in the back of the royal limousine as he left his home in Berkshire
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.”
Yesterday the British Embassy in Moscow was forced to make an official statement confirming that King Charles III is still alive, after Russian media claimed he had died
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
The false palace announcement was dated yesterday and read: ‘The king died unexpectedly yesterday afternoon’
King Charles leaves Windsor Castle in a royal limousine today as he continues cancer treatment
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 ‘rumours’, stating: ‘The Buckingham Palace press service denied RIA Novosti rumors about the death of King Charles III.
A tweet from Gazeta.ru perpetuated the rumors that Charles had died
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
“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 contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
On Saturday, the Princess of Wales was pictured by a royal fan leaving the Windsor Farm Shop with Prince William.
Kate has now been spotted four times in two weeks as Kensington Palace said she would not be seen in public before Easter following abdominal surgery in January.
It has been reported that she may return to royal duties by walking to church on Easter Sunday.
Her latest sighting came amid a slew of online conspiracy theories about the state of her health.
A royal source told the Telegraph today: ‘Finally everyone can calm down.’
With William carrying out royal duties in Sheffield today, it also emerged that the palace is accelerating plans for the Princess of Wales’s return to full royal duties now that she is clearly on the mend.
The sooner she can make a public appearance, the sooner cruel rumors will be dispelled, an insider said, adding: “The teams are working around the clock to finalize the Princess of Wales’s plan to return to work after weeks of enormous pressure’.
A witness who saw the couple told The Sun: ‘After all the rumors going around I was stunned to see them there. Kate was shopping with William and she looked happy and good.
“The kids weren’t there, but it’s such a good sign that she was healthy enough to go to the shops.”
The outing came after she was spotted in a royal car from Windsor last week with Prince William, days after her publication of an edited Mother’s Day photo caused a global media storm.