The British embassy in Moscow was today forced to give an official statement confirming King Charles III is still alive after Russian media claimed he had died.

A host of Russian news sites and their associated social media accounts reported earlier today that the King had died aged 75 as a result of cancer complications, citing unnamed 'media' sources in an inexplicable stream of posts.

It came as an image of a clearly fake statement from 'Buckingham Palace' reporting Charles' 'unexpected death' was circulated on social media.