On March 18, Russian media outlets (ZOV МЕЛИТОПОЛЬ, womanhit.ru) and Telegram channels (1, 2) disseminated information about the death of Charles III – the King of the United Kingdom and 14 Commonwealth of Nations. Russian media writes that the information about his death was announced by the Buckingham Palace.
The same claim was also shared by a Georgian-language Facebook profile.
The claim about the death of King Charles III is false. The royal family has not released any information about the King’s death. The British reputable media also responded to the mentioned issue and wrote that the King is alive.
The official page of the royal family and their social media platforms (1, 2, 3) do not feature any information about the death of King Charles.
The British media responded to the disinformation on March 18. The Guardian article mentions that the information was spread on Russian-language Telegram channels, including ВЕДОМОСТИ and Readovka, from where it was shared virally on other platforms. Readovka updated the information, and the post by ВЕДОМОСТИ is currently deleted.
Some Telegram channels, together with the photo of the king, also distributed a forged document in the name of “Buckingham Palace”, in which the royal family announced the death of the king. It should be noted that later some media outlets corrected the information.
For example, Комсомольская правда writes that the king died and was resurrected in one day.
Вечерняя Москва updated the article with the information that Charles III is alive, although the headline still states that he is dead.
On February 5, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer. Allegedly, that is why the mentioned disinformation went viral so fast.
About the Source
Georgian-language Facebook user Eduard Jishkariani often publishes anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian content, including disinformation. “Myth Detector” has debunked the false information disseminated by Jishkariani a number of times in the past.
Archive links: ZOV МЕЛИТОПОЛЬ, womanhit.ru
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