Russian propaganda media (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), as well as Russian (1, 2) and Georgian-language (1) Facebook accounts have been disseminating the information that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, bought Highgrove House from King Charles III. According to the media, the palace was used by Charles III as a country house since 1980, and after 44 years, he sold it along with the adjacent park to the President of Ukraine for 20 million pounds. Russian media relies on The London Crier. The publication writes that although Buckingham Palace has not released an official statement on this topic, this fact is confirmed by many details, including the former royal family servant Grant Harrold, who says that the final agreement on this issue was made during Olena Zelenska’s visit to Great Britain on February 29.
“Prince William could have gifted the house to his father. So, the King was within his rights to sell the property.” The London Crier quoted Grant Harrold.
The claim that Charles III sold Highgrove House to Volodymyr Zelensky is false. Prince William is registered as the owner of the palace in the real estate register of England and Wales. In addition, the interview with the former servant of the royal family is fabricated. The information was confirmed by Grant Harold’s representative to “Myth Detector.” Also, the YouTube channel, which the British publication The London Crier relies on, was created on February 5 and has published a total of 3 videos.
Land and Property Registry of the UK
We checked the England and Wales Land Registry to see if ownership of Highgrove Castle has changed. The requested document mentions that the house belongs to the royal family. The same document states that the information will not be reflected yet if changes are in progress.
See the document.
An article by The London Crier notes that former royal family butler Grant Harrold confirms that an agreement has been reached between Olena Zelenska and the royal family. Harold is also quoted in the article, however, Harold’s representative told Myth Detector that such an interview did not take place and that it is fabricated.
YouTube Channel Sam Murphy
The YouTube channel Sam Murphy, who posted a video about Zelensky’s alleged purchase of the Highgrove Palace, was created on 5 February 2024 and has posted a total of three videos, all three on Charles III and all three on 31 March. It should be noted that no additional information can be found about Sam Murphy.
This is not the first case when Zelenskyy is accused of purchasing expensive real estate. In 2022, Russian channels claimed that the president of Ukraine owns a villa in Miami valued at 35 million USD. As a result of verification, it became clear that Zelensky’s property is estimated at 20-30 million USD in total, and his 35 million villa in Miami is not included in his property declarations and Pandora Papers. Also, Florida’s public real estate registry does not search for real estate linked to Zelenskyy or the companies named in the Pandora Papers.
The London Crier
When disseminating information, Russian media rely on The London Crier.
The publication mainly prepares propaganda and tabloid articles. In this case, the article has been prepared based on the video of the YouTube channel Sam Murphy about the purchase of the house by Zelenskyy.
The article has been written in the framework of Facebook’s fact-checking program. You can read more about the restrictions that Facebook may impose based on this article via this link. You can find information about appealing or editing our assessment via this link.
Read detailed instructions for editing the article.
Read detailed appeal instructions.
