Why We Knew The King Charles & Kate Middleton Death Rumors Were Obviously Bogus

King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales are alive and well. And while that may come as a shock to some corners of the internet, it's pretty clear to those who know any official death announcement probably wouldn't originate from an obscure, foreign publication. But that's not the only factor sparking the latest conspiracy theories about Kate Middleton and King Charles, who had a much larger target on his back. If you weren't online over St. Patrick's Day weekend, you may have missed the fact that social media users spent most of their time waiting for confirmation that King Charles and/or Kate — who were briefly hospitalized at the same time in January — had succumbed to their respective ailments, abdominal surgery and cancer. 

Netizens have been whirring with curiosity since the royals revealed their unfortunate conditions. Speculation that one had died increased amid the unverified rumor that BBC News was on the brink of making a royal announcement about the family's state of affairs. However, the largest contributor to the chaos was a pair of Russian-based publications, which circulated a fake death announcement about Charles on St. Patrick's Day, according to the Mirror. "Britain's King Charles III has died, Buckingham Palace reports," read a false report by Russian outlets Mash and Readkova. Soon after, the Ukrainian Embassy published an alert, tweeting, "News about King Charles death is fake."

However, we were never worried about this particular rumor.

It usually takes a pretty loud ruckus to force Buckingham Palace's hand, as it has long honored the unofficial adage: "Never complain, never explain." But it conceded to the speculation and issued a formal statement denying that King Charles III was dead on March 18. "We are happy to confirm that The King is continuing with official and private business," Buckingham Palace said in a statement to a Russian news agency (via the New York Post). Meanwhile, a newly published video of Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William enjoying an outing at a flower shop over St. Paddy's Day weekend, obtained by TMZ, confirmed that she's also alive (although social media isn't exactly convinced).

Even without these confirmations, Charles and Kate Middleton's death rumors smelled foul for a few reasons. Amid the chaos, social media users pointed to false signifiers, including the since-debunked rumor that Buckingham Palace's flag was flying at half-mast — a sign that the royal family is mourning a great loss. However, royal watchers were tricked by old images of the flag that circulated when Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022. One user even posted a recent video proving otherwise. Some royalists also claimed that BBC News had changed its social media logo from red to black just as it had done when the late queen died. However, they confused the BBC News account with the BBC account, which has always had a black logo, according to the Independent.

And this is why you can't believe everything you read!