Why are so many people falling for a fake Christmas market outside Buckingham Palace?

Tourists are looking more confused outside of Buckingham Palace than usual.

People are flocking to visit the first ever Christmas Market directly outside the front door of the iconic building.

Images show snow-covered stalls lined up in neat rows, selling hot chocolate and mulled wine to a steady stream of people, inspiring that cozy Christmas feeling in even the biggest of Grinches.

But when inspired Londoners arrive to see the market – which has gone viral on social media – they find nothing. Only a few puddles and some pigeons stand where the stalls were supposedly pictured.

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.’

Well it turns out the whole thing was fake, with images created by AI to boost the engagement of random Instagram accounts.

So why 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 AI images online.

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.’

And just one scroll on social media will show people planning their journey beneath the posts oblivious to the fact it was completely fake.

One person wrote: ‘Just went! Was so disappointed.’ While another added: ‘I went last night and I confirm – it is not real!’

But this fake market didn’t just randomly appear on people’s screens. Buckingham Palace did indeed announce a Christmas shop, but it is in the Mews which is there all year round to sell non-festive 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 big step in counter-terror 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.

They have since deleted the post – but the damage was done. And other accounts copied them.

London.travelers is run by US travel company Athotel, which claims to offer customers ‘unmatched value with curated community insights’.

On their website, they say: ‘You can count on us to make your trip feel like that IG photo.’

They run more than 100 social media accounts and claim to create seven viral posts per day.

Metro has contacted the company for comment.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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