King Charles is Alive, Despite Russian Media Fake Announcement of his Death Following his Cancer Diagnosis
Buckingham Palace refuted rumors propagated by Russian media claiming the death of King Charles III on Monday. Despite a dubious-looking “announcement” featuring the official seal of the British monarch’s residence, the palace clarified the falsehoods in a statement provided to the Russian state-run TASS news agency.
“We are happy to confirm that The King is continuing with official and private business,” it read.
The 75-year-old British monarch has been undergoing cancer treatment since late January. Meanwhile, concerns about Kate Middleton’s health persist after her abdominal surgery on Jan. 17.
Despite recent public appearances with her husband, Prince William, including a visit to a local farm stand, the absence of photographs has failed to reassure the public about her well-being. This outing follows a controversial incident where Kate took responsibility for editing a poorly Photoshopped family photo, igniting global attention.
Speculation surrounding Kate has sparked widespread conspiracy theories concerning both her and the broader British royal family.
Amidst the flurry of rumors, various Russian mainstream news outlets and popular pro-Kremlin Telegram channels hastily spread the unverified news of King Charles’ purported death.
Mash, a Telegram channel with 2.27 million subscribers, was among the first to disseminate the false information, declaring, “Britain’s King Charles III has died, Buckingham Palace reports.”
Other outlets such as Sputnik, RIA Novosti, and Readkovka followed suit, referencing the fictitious palace announcement.
Subsequently, all outlets issued retractions and corrections to their initial reports.
“Abort, we spoke too soon, the announcement turned out to be a fake,” Mash wrote in an update. “Let us remember that a few months ago he was diagnosed with cancer and performed surgery on his prostate.”
As he continues to receive outpatient treatment for his unspecified form of cancer, the king held a meeting with Baroness Patricia Scotland, the Commonwealth secretary general, on March 13, as seen in a photo released by the palace.
Two days earlier, he released a pre-recorded video address to mark Commonwealth Day.
Charles is expected to attend the annual Trooping of the Colour ceremony celebrating his birthday on June 15 — either on horseback as tradition dictates, or in a carriage.
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