The death of King Charles III was reported by certain Russian media, forcing the British Embassy in Ukraine to react at the start of the week.
This Monday, March 18, 2024, an unexpected fake news circulated on social networks and in the Russian media. Indeed, rumors concerning the death of King Charles III spread at great speed, angering the British embassy in Ukraine. A denial statement was published in response to the erroneous announcement by several pro-Kremlin Russian media.
“King Charles III of Great Britain has died at the age of 75, according to media reports,” said the Russian news agency Sputnik, for example. Information to which the embassy reacted without delay on X (formerly Twitter): “We would like to inform you that the news concerning the death of King Charles lll is false”.
For several days, the royal family has been the victim of controversy, particularly after the publication of a retouched photo of Princess Kate Middleton. Several Russian media also indicate that the rumor concerning the death of King Charles III was launched in response to criticism from the West about a “rigged Russian presidential election”. The British Foreign Minister, David Cameron, declared on Sunday evening, after the re-election of Vladimir Putin, that these elections appeared neither “free” nor “fair”.
Many Russian media also picked up this false information with a montage of an official announcement from Buckingham Palace which originally mentioned Her Majesty’s cancer, according to information from the Daily Mirror. The official Russian news agency RIA Novosti has corrected its initial dispatch accidentally announcing the death of King Charles III, “based on rumors” according to the Daily Mail.
