The Day I Fell for the Fake Buckingham Palace Christmas Market (Yes, I Know…)

You know those moments in life when you confidently stride toward exactly what you think you want — only to discover you were spectacularly wrong? That was me, fully convinced I was heading to a magical Christmas market outside Buckingham Palace. Except there was no Christmas market. Just confused tourists lingering outside the palace gates… and one very disappointed Mel.

Yes, I got suckered into a Buckingham Palace Christmas market that wasn’t real. I said it. The much-hyped “event” floating around the internet? Completely fake. And judging by the crowd, I clearly wasn’t the only one who had trusted the algorithm.

Metro / Getty / Instagram

You know when you’re scrolling through social media, minding your festive little business, and suddenly you see something magical and you feel like Christmas just winked at you?

Well… that was me when a gorgeously produced image flashed across my screen:

“The First-Ever Buckingham Palace Christmas Market.” 

Mulled wine and hot chocolate — my two absolute favourites during the festive season.

A ginormous Christmas tree smack-bang in the middle.Twinkling lights suspended high abovem AND snow. Yes… actual snow — in hindsight, really should’ve been the dead giveaway (me shaking my head at myself)!

It looked so real, so cinematic, so… British, that my inner Christmas elf went feral.

I didn’t pause nor blink… didn’t even think.

I sent it straight to my family WhatsApp group with the enthusiasm of someone who had just uncovered the ultimate Christmas bucket-list activity for our visiting relatives.

“LOOK AT THIS!! We HAVE to go!!” I said, practically delirious with festive delusion.

I was already planning outfits. Scarves, boots, hats, gloves… even the perfect hot-chocolate photo op (you know the one — hands wrapped around the mug, steam swirling, Buckingham Palace doing its moody winter thing in the background).

I even pictured myself gasping at the palace gates, whispering, “This is the most beautiful Christmas market I’ve ever seen… why did it take them this long to do this?”

And then…

Reality Entered the Chat

A few days ago, across all the major newspaper outlets, the headlines started appearing:

“PSA: The viral Buckingham Palace Christmas Market is fake.”

FAKE. 

As in: not real, AI-generated … Mel, you absolute festive mug!

My heart left my body. It flew straight back to South Africa and sat quietly on Table Mountain in with my head hanging in shame

I zoomed in and examined the original image closely — like a forensic investigator who really should’ve known better — and suddenly everything I thought was magical now screamed:

Deepfake. AI. Lies. Deception. Betrayal.

The so-called first-ever Buckingham Palace Christmas market — complete with wooden stalls, fairy lights, and snow settling like a Hallmark movie — (that had me fully enchanted!) turned out to be a hoax.

Suddenly I wasn’t staring at a Christmas miracle. I was staring at a visual catfish. And me — the woman who obsesses over details — got played.

Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who fell for it.Tourists were actually turning up at the Palace expecting the full market scene.

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✅ What is happening

• This year, for the first time ever, the Royal Collection Trust is opening a Christmas pop-up shop at the Palace’s Royal Mews (the historic stables behind Buckingham Palace) from 14 November to 5 January.

• Think royally posh gifts, festive treats, and limited-edition bits — basically a posh Christmas shop pretending it’s not that posh (nudge, nudge, wink, wink!).

❌ What is not happening

• There is no full Christmas market outside the Palace gates. No wooden stalls. No mulled-wine huts. No snow-covered streets.Just a very convincing AI-generated fantasy that fooled half of London — including me.

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The Group Chat Shame

 I had already shared it and evangelised it. I had hyped it to family visiting from across the world, talking as if King Charles himself invited us personally to sip mulled wine under a giant royal Christmas tree.

And now I had to be like: “Uhm… so… that market I said we’re 100% going to? Yeah… it’s… not actually a thing.”

I felt like a festive fraud and an absolute Christmas clown.

But let’s be honest… it looked ridiculously real, so don’t judge me - judge the production value (giggle, giggle).

So, What Did I Learn?

1. AI is getting way too good. 

   Like, uncomfortably good. Like, I might accidentally believe in unicorns soon.

2. Christmas makes fools of us all.

   (Well… me, really.) Show me snow or anything remotely Christmassy and I lose all critical thinking skills.

3. I am the target audience.

   If an ad contains fairy lights, hot chocolate, or mulled wine — consider me scammed.

4. My family now thinks I’m a London tourist.

   Even though I actually live here.

5. If Buckingham Palace ever DOES launch a Christmas market, they better call me. 

   Because I’ve basically already done the entire marketing campaign for free.

The Moral of the Story?

Stay alert out there. We’re entering a time where “seeing” is no longer the same as “believing.” Check the source, question the screenshot, double-tap the joy… but verify the facts. 

AI can be brilliant, even extraordinary — but in the wrong hands, it becomes something far more dangerous than we’re ready for.