The British Royal Family has seen a lot of change in the past couple of years, but no, they’re not hosting a Christmas fair at Buckingham Palace.
A widely-circulated AI deepfake showing a typical market superimposed on the grounds of the palace and a flyer announcing the market would open on November 23 appeared on a London travel Instagram page that’s since been taken down.
But not before word spread and many locals and visitors made plans to attend, forcing the Royal Collection Trust to issue public statements that there “will not be a Christmas market at Buckingham Palace.”
The fake market, whose image placed a Christmas tree in the spot actually occupied by a statue of Queen Victoria not only fooled members of the public: it was picked up as a news story by a number of websites and news organizations.
