Buckingham Palace Confirms King Charles Is Alive Despite Reports of His Death in Russian News

In response to a Russian media report claiming the death of King Charles III, Buckingham Palace has issued a statement refuting the report.

The palace reassured on Monday, March 18, that the King is continuing with his official and private duties, as per the New York Post.

TASS, the Russian state-run news agency, had published a story which included an announcement claiming that the King had passed away the previous day.

The 75-year-old monarch, who was diagnosed with cancer in late January, has continued with his royal duties in private, including meeting different heads of state at the palace, while temporarily avoiding public appearances during his treatment.

He met Commonwealth Secretary General, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, at Buckingham Palace on March 13. He is also regularly meeting British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

After undergoing a procedure for benign prostate enlargement, King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer. The exact type of cancer he has is however, still not been disclosed.

Starting from February 5, Buckingham Palace announced that the King had begun a schedule of regular therapies under doctor's advice, and would be postponing his public duties during this period. His Majesty would, however, continue to undertake State business and official paperwork.

The King thanked his medical team for their quick diagnosis, which he said was only possible due to his recent medical procedure. The King is optimistic regarding his treatment and is eager to return to his full public duties soon.

This distressing news was closely followed by his daughter-in-law, Princess Kate Middleton, getting "planned abdominal surgery" on January 16. Kensington Palace had announced the news of the surgery the following day.

The announcement suggested that she would need a significant recovery period. After about two weeks in hospital, the Princess returned to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor to continue her recovery. The palace anticipates that based on the current medical advice, she won't be able to return to public duties until after Easter.

With Kate's surgery details undisclosed and her absence in public events since Christmas Day 2023, a variety of conspiracy theories about her whereabouts have been circulating, which includes one about her recovering from plastic surgery.

The communication team of the Princess had to reaffirm their original comment about her long absence on February 29. Her representatives reminded everyone that Kensington Palace had already shared the recovery timeline for the Princess in January, and that they intended on providing major updates only.

Kate was seen in a photo with her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, taken for U.K.’s Mother's Day at the royal family's home in Windsor by her husband Prince William.

The photo, released on March 10, came with a caption expressing gratitude for the kind wishes and support in the last two months, and a Mother's Day wish.

Due to the alterations made in the original photo, several photo agencies later issued a "kill notice", suggesting that the photo should be taken down as it appears manipulated.

On March 11, Kate acknowledged making some changes to the original photo in a post on social media, saying that she, being an amateur photographer, occasionally experiments with editing, and apologizing for any confusion caused by the family picture posted the day before.