No, King Charles III did not unveil a poster calling PM Netanyahu a 'terrorist'

What is the claim? 

A video of King Charles III unveiling a poster of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled “Terrorist” is being widely shared on social media. The poster also calls for Netanyahu’s immediate arrest.

A user on X (formerly Twitter) posted the video with the caption, “Europe has declared Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu an international terrorist. A large poster of him was unveiled yesterday.” The poster contains a headshot of the Israeli PM with his name and the ‘terrorist’ label, accompanied by text saying, “This terrorist is a danger for humanity. Arrest him immediately.” Archived versions of these posts can be viewed here and here.

This video has been shared in English, Urdu, Arabic, and Tamil with the same claim.

Screenshots of viral posts. (Source: X/Screenshot)

However, the viral video is digitally altered. In the original video, King Charles is unveiling a painting of himself, his first official portrait, at Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom, following his coronation.

What we found 

A reverse image search on the keyframes from the viral video led us to the original video (archived here) uploaded on May 14, 2024, on the YouTube channel -'The Royal Family Channel.' The video shows King Charles unveiling his own portrait. The description reads that this is King Charles’ first completed official portrait unveiled post-coronation. The video was also shared on the Associated Press YouTube channel (archived here) on May 15, 2024.

Upon comparing the video uploaded on The Royal Family Channel to the viral video, we found that Netanyahu's poster was digitally manipulated. 

Comparison of the viral video and 'The Royle Family Channel' video. (Source: YouTube/X)

On May 14, 2024, the BBC also reported that King Charles’ first official portrait post-coronation was unveiled at Buckingham Palace. The large canvas painting shows King Charles in Welsh Guards uniform, portraying him in a “larger-than-life” manner. The painting is about 8 feet 6 inches tall and 6 feet 6 inches wide and was created by Jonathan Yeo, who has also painted portraits of Tony Blair, Sir David Attenborough, and Malala Yousafzai.

Furthermore, there were no reports of Europe declaring Netanyahu a "terrorist" available online, and no credible media reports were found confirming such a claim.

The verdict 

The viral video is digitally manipulated and is being shared with the false claim that King Charles III unveiled a poster of Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu labeled as a "terrorist." 

(Translated by Vanita Ganesh)