You may find tourists looking a tad confused if you go for a wander outside Buckingham Palace.
People eager to get into the festive spirit appear to have been duped by an AI advert promoting a Christmas market outside the royal residence.
Images show snow-covered stalls lined up in neat rows, selling hot chocolate and mulled wine to a steady stream of visitors, inspiring that cozy Christmas feeling in even the biggest of Grinches.
But when visitors arrive, they find nothing. A few puddles and some pigeons stand where the stalls were supposed to be.
Londoner James BJ, 36, who went to visit the market on Sunday, told Metro: ‘It was a complete waste of time. It was dark, cold and nothing was there.’
Why are people falling for it, and who started the rumour in the first place?
Why do so many people believe the market is real?
James is far from the only person to have fallen for the ads.
He said: ‘I asked a couple of people also milling around if they were there for the market, and they said said yes but no one knew what was going on.
‘There were around 30 of us, just walking back and forth until we gave up and went home.’
Just a scroll on social media will show people planning their journey beneath the posts oblivious to the fact it was completely fake.
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One person wrote: ‘Just went! Was so disappointed.’
Another added: ‘I went last night and I confirm – it is not real!’
Buckingham Palace did indeed announce a Christmas shop but it is in the Mews. The Mews itself is open all year round selling Buckingham Palace tea towels and mugs.
The Royal Collection Trust told Metro: ‘The Royal Mews Christmas Shop is a pop-up shop selling Royal Collection Trust festive products within the existing Royal Mews shop space. There will not be a Christmas market at Buckingham Palace.’
Where did the posts come from?
Many accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok have posted their own AI versions of the Christmas Market.
All of them run along the same lines: Snow-tipped stands near Christmas trees in the usual brown-yellow tones AI seems to cover its slop with.
Bizarrely, nearly all of the images show the stands beyond the gates of the palace, which would be a infringement of counter-terror measures if that was signed off.
The accounts range in follower sizes, but the majority post London-related events to a few hundred followers.
But one account is so huge it has been named as the one which has fueled the rumour exponentially.
Who runs the accounts?
London.travelers, which has 2.5 million followers on Instagram, posted an AI image supposedly showing the stalls.
It has since deleted the post but it didn’t take long for other accounts to follow suit.
London.travelers is run by US travel company Athotel, which claims to offer customers ‘unmatched value with curated community insights’.
On its website, it states: ‘You can count on us to make your trip feel like that IG photo.’
It runs more than 100 social media accounts and claims to create seven viral posts per day.
Metro has contacted the company for comment.
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