Kate & Charles conspiracies have ALL hallmarks of Putin’s troll factories – Russia wants to sow chaos, top expert warns

VLADIMIR Putin’s troll farms are fuelling hateful conspiracy theories against the British Royals in a bid to spark chaos, a top expert has warned.

Ex-White House intelligence chief Theresa Payton says the wild theories about The King and Princess Kate are likely a result of Kremlin propaganda.

AP

Russian state media have been spreading theories about the Royal family[/caption]

Online trolls claim the woman in the footage is not Kate

East2West

A fake Buckingham Palace statement about the death of King Charles was shared by Russian media[/caption]

BNPS

King Charles has stepped back from public duties after he was diagnosed with cancer[/caption]

And she added it is no coincidence that they have stepped up after Charles spoke in support of Ukraine a few weeks ago.

The tyrant dictator, 71, is leveraging disinformation and propaganda from his “authoritarian playbook” in an attempt to “sow confusion and concern among the public,” warned Payton.

Multiple Russian media outlets spread the hurtful fake news yesterday that King Charles III had died – even publishing a completely fabricated statement from Buckingham Palace.

Russian outlets also peddled conspiracy theories on social media as they baselessly cast doubt on the authenticity of The Sun’s exclusive footage of Princess Kate and Prince William.

It is believed more than half of Brits have been exposed to conspiracy theories about Princess Kate.

Payton said the Russians have likely helped to fuel the cruel online storm which has been circulating around the Royal Family in recent weeks.

Putin is known to have an arsenal of so-called “trolls farms” at his disposal – designed to hijack discussions of Twitter/X, TikTok, Facebook and Telegram.

They are designed to sow discord in the West and manipulate public opinion.

And their activities have continued since Putin began his vile war in Ukraine.

It has been a particularly painful few months for the Royal Family as Charles battles cancer and Kate recovers from surgery.

Russia’s false claim at the King saw the hateful fake news spread violently across social media.

The British embassy in Moscow was even forced to issue a statement saying: “Reports of the death of King Charles III of Great Britain are fake!”

Payton – the first female White House Chief Information Officer – said Russian propaganda will be seeking to target the stability and integrity of the monarchy.

She believes that, King Charles, who spoke in support of Ukraine during the second anniversary of Russia‘s illegal invasion of the country, is a target of such troll farms.

The expert told The Sun: “It is not lost on me that about three weeks ago, King Charles spoke in support of Ukraine.

“That would put King Charles directly in the sights of the Russian troll farms.”

Speaking on the second anniversary of the invasion, the King praised the “heroism and valour” of Ukrainians following the “unprovoked attack on their land”.

The Sun last week called on the world to “Lay Off Kate” after she was criticised for editing her Mother’s Day family photo – before vile fake tales started spreading.

Russian state media and online channels have today shared unfounded claims that the footage of Kate and William is fake – running articles headlined “Kate isn’t real.”

The video, showing the couple happily strolling outside a farm shop in Windsor over the weekend, has sparked wild conspiracy theories – from William walking side to side with a body double to the clip being created artificial intelligence.

Multiple outlets linked to the Russian state picked up the fake news – which then widely spread across social media.

Meanwhile, Elena Sotnikova, former editor-in-chief of Russian Elle women’s magazine, prompted the conspiracy theory – claiming it is not Kate Middleton on the video and insists the Royals are using body doubles.

Ironically rumours about the use of body doubles by Vladimir Putin have been swirling for years.

While another major glossy media outlet called Spletnik published a story today with the headline: “Kate isn’t real.”

Theresa said that Russian propaganda holds significant influence over the spread of rumours about the British royals – and the sick stunts show the power of such disinformation campaigns.

“There is a real possibility that Russian disinformation and troll farms are wielding significant influence over the spread of rumours about the British Royals,” the cyber expert said.

“By disseminating false narratives through various Russian news sites, social media channels, and bots, the troll farms sow confusion and concern among the public.

“The recent instance of false reports claiming the death of King Charles III due to cancer complications is a stark reminder of the power of such disinformation campaigns.”

According to the ex-White House information officer, such false rumours against the British Royals can deeply unsettle the public.

More than half the people in the UK have been exposed to conspiracy theories Kate.

The poll, carried out by YouGov, showed 51% of people have seen discussion of theories about her absence online.

Meanwhile, 44% said they had not, while 5% were unsure.

“Such misinformation not only erodes public trust but also breeds uncertainty about the stability and integrity of the monarchy. This could affect national morale and sentiment.”

Putin has been long using such tactics to gain political advantages – both inside and outside his iron-gripped empire.

For years, Russia has been accused of leveraging disinformation, propaganda, and cyber warfare tactics to manipulate public opinion.

Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, Walter J. Scheirer points out that the Royal Family is the perfect example as “it’s easy for anybody to generate material that will capture the public’s attention because there’s already a controversy.”

Scheirer, the author of A History of Fake Things on the Internet, told The Sun: “I think these days it’s a bit different from 20 years ago, because now anybody can write stories about this right.

“And and so that means you have the public writing potentially fake stories about this.

“You have state-based actors who can also do this. But I think what’s tricky the provenance of this material.

“It’s the Internet right? In many cases these things are posted anonymously right, or under pseudonyms.

“They may appear to be coming from one part of the globe, but they’re really being posted from somewhere else.

“It’s not hard to kind of use proxy servers and bounce around
the Internet to post content.

“It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to get back to the original source.And that’s the way the Internet works.”

The Russian conspiracy theories come after tyrant Putin cruised to an easy presidential victory on Monday as he was re-elected with a record of over 87 per cent of the vote.

The predictable outcome means Putin is set to embark on a new six-year term that will see him overtake Josef Stalin and become Russia‘s longest-serving leader for more than 200 years if he survives it.