TOURISTS IN LONDON were left disappointed after heading to Buckingham Palace today to see a traditional Christmas market – only to discover it never existed.

Pictures of the market – complete with wooden stalls and twinkling lights – have been widely shared on social media by many different accounts in several languages.

But it was completely made up. The images were generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

The AI images first appeared in September, after the Royal Collection Trust (RCT), which organises visits to the palace, posted an announcement about a small pop-up Christmas shop.

Content creators then shared the pictures, promising “a royal Christmas experience like never before” . The posts circulated widely, appearing online in languages including English, Thai, Portuguese, Arabic and Armenian.

One online post said the market would run from 14 November to 6 January.

“Imagine sipping mulled wine, wandering through fairy-lit stalls, and shopping for royal-themed gifts — all right in front of the palace itself!” it read.

The RCT responded to fake posts on its website, saying the shop is “not a Christmas market” and “there will not be a Christmas market at Buckingham Palace”.

Unfortunately the message didn’t reach everyone, as many tourists still showed up expecting a market.

The motive of the ruse isn’t yet clear – but it’s not the first time elaborate online marketing for fake events has fooled people.

Last November hundreds of people lined the footpaths on O’Connell Street in Dublin in anticipation of a Halloween parade that had been promoted online, but the parade never materialised.  

The parade, posted to a Halloween themed website and circulated to thousands online, was supposed to start on the north side of the city and make its way down to Temple Bar. However, no such parade was planned.

Eventually, gardaí requested that people leave the area safely.

The initial impression of the fake event was that it was an elaborate prank. However, it actually appears to have been promoted by people based in Pakistan. 

With additional reporting from AFP