King Charles Photo Sinks Viral Rumor

King Charles III has been photographed meeting war veterans at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, which sinks viral rumors that circulated on social media claiming he had died.

An official Press Association photographer took the picture of Charles at Buckingham Palace on March 19. He was meeting a small group of veterans who fought in the Korean War.

The king is currently undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, which he was diagnosed with in early February following a medical procedure to treat an enlarged prostate.

On Monday, several posts to X (formerly Twitter) claimed that Charles had died and that the flag at Buckingham Palace was flying at half-mast.

In an example viewed over 400,000 times on the social media platform, user @CaptCoronado posted: "Update: British King Charles III has died of cancer at age 75!!"

This post received a community notice stating that "there is no evidence in regards to the death of King Charles III." However, a number of similar posts on the site also gained large numbers of viewers.

This prompted the X account of the British Embassy in Ukraine to respond by officially telling followers: "We would like to inform you that the news about the death of King Charles III is fake."

Buckingham Palace did not respond to the online posts.

Charles has taken on a reduced schedule of official work since his cancer diagnosis was announced in February.

While he still performs his state paperwork and duties, he has reduced his in-person meetings, reportedly, while he undergoes treatment for his condition.

In line with not meeting in large crowds, Charles did not attend a reception held at Buckingham Palace for a larger group of Korean War veterans on Tuesday, instead being represented by his sister, Princess Anne, and sister-in-law, the Duchess of Edinburgh.

A post to the royal family's official social media account, sharing a photograph of the king meeting veterans, said:

"This morning, the King met veterans of the Korean War at Buckingham Palace to mark 70 years since the signing of the armistice which ended the conflict.

"60,000 service personnel from across Britain and the Commonwealth saw action, with 1,100 losing their lives.

"Later today, The Princess Royal and The Duchess of Edinburgh will host a reception at the Palace on behalf of His Majesty to commemorate the anniversary of 'the Forgotten War.'"

Charles is not the only royal to have fallen victim to recent social media conspiracy theories and speculation.

The king's daughter-in-law, Kate, the Princess of Wales, has also become a debated public figure as her absence from public life continues while she recovers from abdominal surgery.

In the absence of regular updates from Kensington Palace, speculation about Kate's health, personal life and whereabouts spiked online after she was found to have edited an official photograph of herself and her three children released to mark Mother's Day in the U.K. on March 10.

This prompted a rare royal apology from the princess who admitted that she does "occasionally experiment with editing."

In the absence of another unedited official photograph however, conspiracies and social media discussion of the royal have continued, even after media outlets obtained footage of her shopping with Prince William in Windsor on March 16.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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