Video doesn’t show a child escaping Buckingham Palace. It’s an old TV promo

An old debunked claim about a naked child escaping Buckingham Palace is getting fresh attention on social media in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. 

"13 or 15 year old boy escapes Buckingham Palace," reads the text in a TikTok video shared on Instagram on Sept. 9. "How do you explain this?" 

In the clip, an apparent tourist appears to zoom her phone camera in on a naked person using a bedsheet to descend from a palace window before falling. 

The Instagram post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Featured Fact-check

Bill O'Reilly

stated on December 9, 2013 in a broadcast of the "O'Reilly Factor"

"The 'Denver Post' has actually hired an editor to promote pot."

A simple internet search reveals that this is fake, and that it’s been scrutinized by fact-checkers before. 

The video first went viral back in 2015, though then it was described as showing a man climbing out of the window, not a child. It was uploaded on what appeared to be a tourist’s YouTube channel. But it was fake — a promotion by E! for its fictional show "The Royals." 

The clip went viral. But it doesn’t show a child escaping the palace. We rate that claim Pants on Fire!