+2 votes
in General Factchecking by Apprentice (1.0k points)
Twitter users are claiming that King Charles is dead as of today.
by Novice (520 points)
This false claim emerged from conspiracy theorists on Twitter and has rapidly spread, trending for nearly 24 hours. It is falsely suggested that King Charles has died, fueled by speculation around a major announcement from Buckingham Palace to the BBC. Additionally, there are baseless rumors circulating about the well-being of Kate Middleton, which have also been debunked. King Charles has indeed been diagnosed with cancer, but reputable sources confirm it is treatable. His last public appearance was less than a week ago, on March 13th. Multiple reliable news outlets have addressed and refuted these unfounded claims:

Newsweek reports on the viral nature of the false claims: Newsweek - King Charles Dead Conspiracy Theory Twitter Viral
The Hill covers how UK embassies have responded to and refuted the conspiracy theories: The Hill - UK Embassies Shoot Down King Charles III Conspiracy Theories
People Magazine shares a recent photo of King Charles, countering the rumors, and confirms his ongoing treatment for cancer: People - King Charles Seen in New Photo at Buckingham Palace Meeting for Cancer Treatment

9 Answers

+2 votes
by Champion (14.6k points)
selected by
 
Best answer

This claim is false, King Charles is not dead. The Royal Family nor any representatives have publicly announced the death of King Charles. This rumor sparked after a Russian news outlet released a statement on March 18 claiming to be from royal communications, stating, "The following announcement is made by royal communications. The King passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon.” However, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the King was still alive in a statement, reading, "We are happy to confirm that The King is continuing with official and private business.” King Charles has been recently diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing treatments ((BBC).

False
+2 votes
by Apprentice (1.3k points)

As this claim is so new, there is no real basis or official reportings on the health state of King Charles. No official statement has been made from the royal family, so as we can see it right now King Charles is alive until we see official confirmation. In researching this claim, I have so far only seen a few sources, both saying that the claim was made by Russian media. A twitter or X account under UK in Ukraine posted debunking the rumors of the Kings death. With this being such a new claim, there is no proof to support this claim. 

https://x.com/UKinUkraine/status/1769717522666750397?s=20

https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/uk-news/2024/03/18/65f860ffe2704e60158b45aa.html

False
by Novice (860 points)
I agree with your claim. I think your research on twitter was well done although maybe include a source other than twitter media to provide more information.
+1 vote
by Novice (960 points)

This claim is false. It started by conspiracy theorists on X and has been spreading rapidly and has been tending for almost 24 hours. They are using the fact that Buckingham Palace is going to make a major announcement to the BBC as the reason why they believe he died. They have also been spreading that Kate Middleton is missing or dead.  That also has been proven to be false. King Charles has been diagnosed with Cancer, but it had been said that it is treatable by multiple reputable sources. King Charles was last seen less than a week ago, on March 13th.

 

 

https://www.newsweek.com/king-charles-dead-conspiracy-theory-twitter-viral-1880231

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/4539250-uk-embassies-shoot-down-king-charles-iii-conspiracy-theories/

https://people.com/king-charles-seen-new-photo-buckingham-palace-meeting-cancer-treatment-8608766

 

False
by (160 points)
I agree with your claim. I think you did a great job finding information on this topic as well as siting the sources you used.
+2 votes
by Novice (720 points)

As of now King Charles is not dead. He is still in fact alive and doing well. There has been no statement from the family on this suppose incident. Theguardian.com states that "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 rumor had made it through the Russian internet and news and has now made it's way to the U.S. 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/18/false-king-charles-death-story-spread-by-russian-media-outlets

Exaggerated/ Misleading
by Novice (860 points)
I agree with your claim. I think you did a great job finding information on this topic as well as citing the sources you used.
by Novice (520 points)
I agree with your claim, As of now, King Charles is alive and well. There has been no statement from the royal family regarding any incident suggesting his death. The rumor of King Charles's death originated from Russian media outlets on Monday afternoon but has been debunked. The Guardian reported that despite the false claim, it quickly gained traction without thorough verification. This incident highlights the potential spread of misinformation across international borders, as the rumor made its way to the U.S. after circulating in Russian media.

Fact Check: The claim that King Charles III is dead is false. He is alive and there is no credible evidence to suggest otherwise.
+2 votes
by Apprentice (2.0k points)
After further research, I found that this claim is not true. According to the New York Post, the rumors began through Russian media which posted on X a fake royal statement about his passing. No statements have been made by the Royal Court yet, but as of right now, the King is alive. According to The Guardian, someone on social media used the old statement about the late queen's passing from Buckingham Palace and replicated it. Because this is still fresh in the news cycle, there are not a lot of sources to get a full answer on whether the claim is true.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/18/false-king-charles-death-story-spread-by-russian-media-outlets

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/king-charles-is-not-dead-despite-russian-media-announcement-forces-palace-to-scramble/ar-BB1k6y6A
False
by Newbie (370 points)
I agree with your claim. I think you did a great job finding information on this topic as well as citing the sources you used.
+2 votes
by Novice (800 points)

This claim is false. A false claim made by a Russian news organization stated that the King had passed away at 75. However, Buckingham Palace stepped in and said, "We are happy to confirm that The King is continuing with official and private business." According to Buckingham Palace, the King is still alive.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/buckingham-palace-denies-king-charles-iii-has-died-after-viral-report/ 

False
by Apprentice (1.3k points)
You did a good job finding a confirmed rebuke to this claim. It is hilarious that world leaders are always the subject to death rumors.
+1 vote
by Novice (860 points)

This claim is false. Conspiracy theorists on X launched it, and since then, it has been growing quickly and growing for about twenty-four hours. They are basing their belief that he passed away on the fact that Buckingham Palace is scheduled to make a significant statement to the BBC. Additionally, rumors that Kate Middleton is dead or missing have been circulated.  That has also been shown to be untrue. King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer, yet numerous reliable sources have stated that the disease is treatable. 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/18/false-king-charles-death-story-spread-by-russian-media-outlets

https://nypost.com/2024/03/18/world-news/king-charles-is-not-dead-despite-russian-media-announcement-forces-palace-to-scramble/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pagesix&utm_content=pagesix_feed&_gl=1*6yqeku*_ga*MTQwODg2NzYwMS4xNzEwNzY1NjIw*_ga_0DZ7LHF5PZ*MTcxMDc3ODE0Ni4yLjAuMTcxMDc3ODE0Ni4wLjAuMA..&_ga=2.135267383.782447117.1710765620-1408867601.1710765620

by Novice (520 points)
I agree, The claim that King Charles III is dead is false. This misinformation originated from conspiracy theorists on X and has rapidly gained traction, trending for approximately twenty-four hours. The belief is based on speculation surrounding a forthcoming significant announcement from Buckingham Palace to the BBC. Additionally, false rumors suggesting the demise or disappearance of Kate Middleton have circulated alongside this claim. However, there is no credible evidence to support these rumors, and they have been debunked. King Charles has indeed been diagnosed with cancer, but multiple reputable sources confirm that the disease is treatable.
+1 vote
by Novice (670 points)
This claim is false. Conspiracy theories around the health of royal family members is not something that is new to the tabloids. While King Charles was diagnosed with cancer, sources say that it is treatable. Supposedly, rumors about the death of King Charles were fueled by Russian news sources.

https://www.vulture.com/article/king-charles-alive-death-rumors.html
False
+2 votes
by Novice (690 points)
This claim is untrue there have been no reports that King Charles had deceased and there are no factual sources on the state of King Charles. We do however know that King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer and that has been the most recent update from The Royal Family.

https://www.bu.edu/articles/2024/what-king-charles-cancer-could-mean-for-the-royal-family/#:~:text=Buckingham%20Palace%20revealed%20last%20week,the%20cancer%20diagnosis%20was%20made.
by Apprentice (1.2k points)
I think you did very good on going a little deeper on why it is not true, by getting an outside source which shows that King Charles has cancer, but is not dead.  However, I think you can maybe add why the claim is not true, by stating about the origination of the claim.

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