False King Charles death story spread by Russian
media outlets
One site tweeted of monarch’s purported demise only to
later concede: ‘Most likely, the information is fake’
Andrew Roth
Mon 18 Mar
2024 18.51 GMT
The news
broke in the Russian media on Monday afternoon. King Charles III was dead. He
was not, but no one really had time to check the details. The saga of the royal
family finally had its latest twist: a viral Russian disinformation angle.
The rumour
went into overdrive when it was shared on a Telegram channel used by Vedomosti,
once Russia’s most respected business newspaper. There was a photo of Charles
in ceremonial military uniform and the curt caption: “British King Charles III
has died.” It made it through Russian internet channels, including Readovka, a
pro-Kremlin Telegram channel with more than 2.35 million subscribers.
There was
no BBC announcement or public statement from Buckingham Palace. But Readovka
did have a document, provenance unknown, that it posted next to a photograph of
the king. “The following announcement is made by royal communications,” it
said. “The king passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon.” It was dated 18
March 2024. That was all.
The file,
whose creator is unknown, was closely modelled on the palace’s announcement of
the late queen’s death that said: “The queen died peacefully at Balmoral this
afternoon.” Another version making the rounds was an abdication letter,
admittedly naming Charles’s successor as “King Bob, the yellow Minion”.
The news
had made its way to Ukraine at this point, where it was reposted by a leading
television station. It had also travelled as far as Tajikistan, where
Asia-Plus, its biggest independent media outlet, had done a write-up.
But there
was growing concern at this point that it might not be true. The Russian
website Gazeta.Ru originally tweeted: “King Charles III of Great Britain has
died. This is reported by Buckingham Palace. The monarch was 75 years old. He
was recently diagnosed with cancer.” But it was later edited to add: “At the
same time, nothing has been written about this in the official British media.
Most likely, the information is fake.” One top Russian media editor also
published the article, writing: “I can’t tell if it’s true or not.” Later, he
suggested, the website of Buckingham Palace had probably been “hacked”.
By then the
memes had already started. One pro-Kremlin channel published a photograph of
King Charles’s head photoshopped into the recent photograph of the Princess of
Wales that was rejected by several news wires. “Photo fact: Buckingham Palace
has distributed a fresh photo of King Charles III to dispel rumors about his
death,” the channel wrote. “London looks pathetic,” wrote the Russian foreign
ministry spokesperson, sharing that post.
Ultimately,
the newsflash came from the Russian state news agency Tass: “King Charles III
continues to perform his official duties and attend private engagements.”
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