False King Charles death story spread by Russian media outlets

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.”