Did the Grim Reaper walk through Westminster Abbey during the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, 2023? No, that's not true: A press officer at the Abbey told Lead Stories that the robed figure seen on TV during the ceremony is a verger, not the symbolic representation of death. A verger is a lay minister who assists the…
Did members of the Queen's Guard in the United Kingdom retaliate against tourists who taunted and harassed them until they finally lashed out? No, that's not true: The video compilation was put together for social media channels by actors who stage public pranks and social experiments. The claim appears in a post and video on Facebook (archived here) published by…
Did Titanic, a German satirical monthly magazine, release a cover in October 2022 that features an illustration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sucking money and resources into his mouth? No, that's not true: The October 2022 issue of Titanic does not feature Zelenskyy and the illustration has not appeared on any of the other issues' covers. The claim appeared in…
Can former President Donald Trump be reinstated by a Supreme Court decision in the case of Moore v. Harper? No, that's not true: Lead Stories asked legal experts about the claim and they said there's no chance that Trump could be reinstated as president because there's no constitutional mechanism for doing so. Also noted, the case has no bearing on…
Did Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly, mock Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by portraying him on its cover as "an obedient dog" eating out of a "European" dog dish? No, that's not true. The publication has stated that this cover image and two similar ones circulating online are fake. The weekly now charges that "Russian propagandists" on Telegram "are creating…
Is the United Kingdom's current head of state, Charles III, expected not to become the country's crowned king? No, that's not true: Upon the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022, Charles, the prince of Wales, became King Charles III. The clickbait title of a video that suggests otherwise is false and is designed to make…
Did an internationally recognized legal tribunal go after "Charles Windsor, aka 'King of England'" on September 20, 2022 to hold him accountable for "Crimes against Humanity committed by his parents"? No, that's not true: The "International Common Law Court of Justice" and its "Special Tribunal" do not exist under international law. The claim's assertion that the late Queen Elizabeth II,…
Did King Charles III sign a proclamation that former President Donald Trump actually won the 2020 presidential election in the U.S.? No, that's not true: The claim uses a screenshot of Charles signing documents related to his accession to the throne. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) posted on September 10, 2022. The tweet included a picture of…
Was a debt jubilee, the cancellation of a broad range of debts from the public record, "officially declared" after Queen Elizabeth II's death? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, no such announcement has been made. The man who posted the rumor online was promoting his online store selling precious metals. The claim appeared in a Facebook post…
Lead Stories is a U.S. based fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or
inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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