King Charles conspiracy theory takes internet by storm

Kate Middleton conspiracy theorists appear to have turned their attention to King Charles III after seemingly baseless rumors of an imminent “extremely important royal announcement” spread online.

The Princess of Wales has not been seen in a clear, verifiable photograph since Christmas Day, after it emerged an image released by Kensington Palace had been doctored.

Speculation has been going into overdrive, with many on X, formerly Twitter, seemingly convinced the palace is hiding something.

The frenzied atmosphere threated to also engulf the king over the weekend after a seemingly unfounded rumor that the BBC Events team had been advised to ready themselves for a major announcement.

One post, viewed 1.5 million times, read: “BBC has reportedly been notified to watch out for an ‘extremely important’ royal announcement.

“According to reports, BBC Events production unit has been notified to keep an eye out for a ‘major announcement’ from the royal family in the wake of current health crisis.”

This in turn led some to speculation the king had passed away—a suggestion readers would be forgiven for thinking was implausible given that news of Queen Elizabeth II‘s death leaked so fast that many journalists found out hours before Prince Harry.

For a start, the first person to be notified would be the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, followed by members of Britain’s cabinets, meaning the news would cascade through the staff of a multitude of the U.K.’s government civil servants.

When Elizabeth passed away, news organizations did receive tip offs and presenters began appearing dressed all in black in preparation for the news to break.

However, there is no apparent reason, and no explanation has been offered, why the BBC would be told to prepare for an announcement, but no announcement arrives days later. Newsweek understands the king is this week continuing with his scaled-down duties, as has been the case since his cancer diagnosis.

One version of the theory was community noted over the weekend by X, with the addendum reading: “The source claiming that BBC Events has been told to prepare for ‘an extremely important royal announcement’ is a false rumour.

“It comes from the instagram page ‘popaplogists’ who also said BBC Events is only responsible for weddings coronations and funerals. They aren’t.”

Further conspiracy theories included that the BBC had changed its profile picture to black, though as another community note recorded, its profile picture had in fact been that color for at least a month.

That did not stop suggestions Charles had died spreading like wildfire on social media, where the speculation is becoming increasingly extreme and with seemingly very little consideration for the fact that real people are going through real health struggles.

In reality, Charles had a meeting with Baroness Scotland, the Commonwealth secretary general, on March 13, as recorded by royal diary the Court Circular; released a public video address to mark Commonwealth Day on March 11 and has had multiple face-to-face meetings with the prime minister in recent weeks while undergoing treatment for cancer.

‘Doctored Photo Controversy’

The speculation all started with social media accounts noting it was unusual not to see any pictures of Kate to reassure the public her operation had gone well.

Theories continually ramped up over the weeks leading up to Kate releasing the doctored image on U.K. Mother’s Day, of her with children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

In the aftermath, four picture agencies “killed” the picture over signs it had been manipulated while one, AFP, suggested Kensington Palace is no longer regarded as a reliable source.

Kate and William, who took the doctored photo, have been under pressure to release the original or a more reliable replacement, but more than a week has passed and nothing new has been put out by aides.

Eric Schiffer, of Reputation Management Consultants, told Newsweek: “She went through a major surgical procedure, it’s normal to struggle, and the palace is working hard to have people see a different side and it’s OK for her to have had a stressful time during a surgical procedure, it’s normal.

“The younger generations want transparency. Where Kate and William have done a nice job is to try to provide that.”

“Post surgery, no one’s going to be at their best,” he continued. “Then you saw the palace try to mitigate that with a shot that was a bit over the top and now turning away from the cameras then raises further questions.

“They need to decide what Kate they want to show. Do they want to show the real Kate or do they want to show a Kate that they’re manufacturing?

“And I think they’re served by showing a Kate that is going through what the average person would go through, which is that it’s not so easy recovering from surgery.

“And that builds further trust and there’s nothing unelevated about that process. You don’t always have to elevate everything, including the experience of surgery.”

Jack Royston is Newsweek‘s chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan Markle and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.

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