Watch Tucker Carlson Get Pranked Over Kate Middleton Photo

Two YouTubers posted a video exhibiting Tucker Carlson interviewing one among them posing as a fired Kensington Palace worker who edited a controversial manipulated U.Okay. Mom’s Day picture of Kate Middleton and her three kids.

Based on pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners, who publish movies below the YouTube account Josh & Archie, they duped former Fox Information presenter Carlson into conducting the interview for his streaming service the Tucker Carlson Network.

Within the video posted on Pieters’ X (previously Twitter) account and on the Josh & Archie YouTube channel on March 14, 4 days after the picture was launched, the pair chronicle their ruse, together with photoshopping a pretend employment contract and the Princess of Wales’ picture right into a supposed unique, unedited model (which the palace has not launched). On the time of publication, the video had 1.5 million views on X and 56,000 views on YouTube.

Manners told Deadline that the pair uncovered their stunt earlier than the interview aired in a bid to not unfold additional misinformation: “We didn’t need to trigger any extra rumors, that aren’t true, to exit to plenty and plenty of individuals.” 

TIME reached out to the Tucker Carlson Community for remark, together with contacting Manners and Pieters by way of their YouTube and Instagram accounts and Manners’ consultant Dana Malmstrom for extra info. 

The botched picture enhancing, for which Kate took credit score and apologized, furthered a media frenzy across the Princess of Wales’ whereabouts and her well being after she was hospitalized for 2 weeks in January for a “deliberate belly surgical procedure.” Kensington Palace stated she would recuperate and return to the general public eye after Easter, which is on March 31. The edited image, which was offered on March 10 as the primary take a look at Kate post-surgery apart from a paparazzi picture, didn’t assuage the general public’s concern, and as an alternative heightened conspiracy theories about her. 

Based on the video, the prank began with Pieters sending an electronic mail to Carlson’s group introducing Manners as “George,” a not too long ago fired Kensington Palace digital content material creator who needed to “get my facet of the story out,” saying: “They don’t seem to be telling the reality in regards to the Princess’ well being, and at the moment are prepared to fireplace workers as a way to conceal the reality.” 

Carlson’s group known as to debate and requested for “proof” of George’s employment and the unique picture, in line with a recording of the decision within the video. Pieters then photoshopped the launched picture to make it look as if it was taken in December by including a Christmas tree within the background window. Pieters additionally created a pretend “letter of engagement” with a Kensington Palace emblem that featured the phrases “Each Little Helps”—the slogan of British grocery store chain Tesco—in Latin. One part of the contract stated that if the worker failed their probationary interval “the corporate retains the appropriate to amputate 1 (1) limb of their selecting.”

Carlson’s group then confirmed the interview at a TV studio in Westminster, London, in line with a screenshot of a textual content, and Manners attended along with his personal digital camera. The digital camera filmed the interview going down on a cut up display screen, throughout which Carlson—seated in entrance of a TCN (Tucker Carlson Community) signal—stated, per the subtitles offered by the Josh & Archie YouTube account: “We’ve finished our greatest to confirm that your identification is what you say it’s. You’re not a pretend [Alexei] Navalny or doing a prank or something.”” 

Manners, posing as George, stated the enhancing job was shoddy as a result of it was “too massive to do.” He stated the picture, which the Prince and Princess of Wales’ social media accounts stated was taken by Prince William in 2024, was truly taken by Kate’s maternal uncle, Gary Goldsmith, at Christmastime. 

After the interview, however with the cameras nonetheless rolling, Carlson stated: “That was nice and it was actually attention-grabbing too.” 

It’s not clear when the interview was filmed. Within the video posted March 14, Manners, posing as George, stated he labored on the palace till “yesterday morning.” After the interview, Carlson’s group instructed Manners in a textual content message that the interview would seemingly broadcast “early subsequent week,” in line with a screenshot within the footage. 

Earlier than it may, although, the YouTubers uncovered their prank to the world.