Kate Middleton Conspiracy Theories Tied to U.K. Government Sanctions for Russian Disinformation

Mar. 15, 2025

Kate Middleton at Southport Community Centre on Oct. 10, 2024 in Southport, England.Photo:Danny Lawson/Getty

Danny Lawson/Getty

A Russian-based disinformation campaign that reportedly targetedKate Middletonearlier this year is facing sanctions from the U.K. government.

On Oct. 28, theU.K. government sanctionedthree Russian agencies, including Social Design Agency (SDA) and its partner, Structura, for deploying online misinformation, known as Doppelganger, to distort the truth around Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this year, the Russian-affiliated group allegedly amplified online rumors and conspiracies about Kate’s absence amid herabdominal surgeryand subsequent cancer diagnosis, leveraging the public curiosity surrounding her health to further pro-Russian narratives.

British authorities alleged that those involved are behind “a vast malign online network, also commonly known as Doppelganger, which plagues social media with fake posts, counterfeit documents and deepfake material. These deceitful tactics are designed to mask the truth around Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and distract from the true nature of the war.”

Kate Middleton at Southport Community Centre in Southport, England on Oct. 10, 2024.Danny Lawson - WPA Pool/Getty

Danny Lawson - WPA Pool/Getty

In late March, Martin Innes, the director of the Security, Crime and Intelligence Innovation Institute at Cardiff University in Wales, toldNBC NewsandThe New York Timesthat he and his team identified 45 accounts circulating information about Princess Kate in a method suggesting that the messages were affiliated with Doppelganger.

The director alleged that the network did not start the speculation but capitalized on the traffic to disperse pro-Russia content and internet discord.

“It’s not as though these Russia-linked accounts were driving the story; they were jumping on it,” Innes told NBC. “It was already being framed in conspiracy terms, so foreign actors don’t need to set that frame — that’s already there to exploit.”

Kate Middleton and King Charles at Trooping the Colour on June 15, 2024.JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty

JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty

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In the statement about the Oct. 28 sanctions from the U.K. government, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, said, “Putinis so desperate to undermine European support for Ukraine he is now resorting to clumsy, ineffective efforts to try and stoke unrest. Today’s sanctions send a clear message: we will not tolerate your lies and interference, and we are coming after you. Putin’s desperate attempts to divide us will fail. We will constrain the Kremlin, and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

The statement from the government added that the U.S. Canada, France, Germany, Australia and the European External Action Service (of the European Union) “join us in calling out the SDA’s underhand activity globally.”

source: people.com