AAP FACTCHECK – King Charles III’s Royal Communications team sent just one release to the media on Christmas Day 2024 – and it wasn’t the fake statement that is being used to claim he signed a deal with the World Economic Forum (WEF).
That claim has flooded Facebook since Christmas Day, on the back of a fake media release in which the King purportedly says: “A unified global governance is not merely an ideal; it is a necessity.”
It’s also claimed he has called for military-style campaigns and for sweeping measures that silence opposition, crush dissent and end the “pretence of democracy” in the West.
Many of the posts link to an article published by The People’s Voice, a website AAP FactCheck has debunked numerous times.
Other posts link to different forms of the same article on different platforms.
The claims in each are similar, echoing the original headline: “King Charles Signs WEF Treaty Authorizing ‘One World Government’ – Media Blackout.”
The article offers no evidence that the King has signed a treaty with the WEF, with the story based solely on a press release it claims appeared on the “official Royal Family website” at 2:46am on December 25.
“In this now-deleted statement … ” the article reads, “King Charles III issued a stunning proclamation: a call for what he described as the ‘necessary dismantling of sovereignty‘ and the urgent creation of a global government.”
It then says that within hours the message was wiped from the site without explanation and that all that remains are screenshots “captured by quick-thinking internet users”.
AAP FactCheck sent a copy of the screenshot to the Palace’s Royal Communications team, and a spokesman confirmed it had not been sent by Royal Communications.
There are several telltale signs that the press release is fake.
A legitimate Royal Communications release typically carries a headline summarising its content, e.g. the King’s message of condolence to the people of Vanuatu.
In comparison, the fake release is headed only “Buckingham Palace Press Release”.
Also, the boiler plate details at the end of the fake release – “For further information, please contact: Royal Communications Buckingham Palace” – are not found on legitimate press releases.
Instead, it usually reads “Share this article:” followed by a clickable logo for Facebook and a clickable Twitter logo that takes readers to X.
No archived version of the supposed press release appears to exist, just a single screenshot.
When AAP FactCheck conducted reverse image searches and searched the press release URL using archiving tools such as Google and Archive.Today, there was no evidence it ever existed.
There’s also no evidence the Royal Family website news page which would have hosted the release was archived on December 25.
AAP FactCheck was also unable to find the webpage hosting the press release in the Royal UK domain’s sitemap.
There is also no evidence a cached version of the webpage purportedly hosting the release has been saved by search engine Bing.
Royal Communications told AAP FactCheck only one release was sent out on Christmas Day: the transcript of the King’s Christmas speech.
That transcript is published in full on media sites such as ITV.com.
Nowhere in the speech does the King echo any of the claims he supposedly made in the release quoted by the social media posts.
Neither does he mention the WEF nor surrendering sovereignty.
The King’s speech is recorded in early December, a situation that doesn’t lend itself to a hurried Christmas Day press release and subsequent removal.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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