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Josh and Archie/YouTube
Tucker Carlson got trolled for Kate Middleton’s infamous edited photo.
The former Fox News host was tricked by British YouTubers Josh & Archie into interviewing a fake Kensington Palace whistleblower, who was willing to debunk the manipulated image.
Archie Manners posed as the Prince and Princess of Wales’ former digital content creator, who claimed to have been fired for altering the Mother’s Day image so badly that it was criticized by the public.
The Tucker Carlson Network, which broadcasts on Twitter (now X), accepted his story after Manners and co-conspirator Josh Pieters falsified employment documents at Kensington Palace.
The YouTubers’ fake engagement letter to the complainant included a clause stating that the palace had the right to amputate one of his limbs if he did not pass his probation period.
Carlson’s people did not see the absurd fake document and Manners was sent to a London studio with a direct line to Carlson for the interview.
In the YouTubers’ video, Carlson is seen introducing his guest with the phrase: “We have done everything possible to verify that your identity is who you say it is. “You are not a fake (Alexei) Navalny nor are you making a joke.”
In character, Manners said, “I was fired for malpractice because it was found that the editing I did… the editing job was almost too big to do.”
He claimed that the photo was taken by Middleton’s uncle during the Christmas season and that he had to edit out a Christmas tree in the background. “It’s an amazing story,” Carlson is shown saying.
The host seemed happy with the interview, telling Manners, “That was great.” His staff later told Manners they would broadcast the exchange “early next week.”
Manners told Deadline that he and Pieters decided to blow their cover because they didn’t want misinformation to be shown to Carlson’s 12.6MX followers.
“We didn’t want to cause more rumors that weren’t true and that would reach a lot of people,” he said. “We just didn’t want to be too dignified about that in our video.”
Manners said he “stroked” Carlson’s ego with the “nonsense” that he was giving the ex-Fox man the exclusive because “the mainstream media in the UK wouldn’t touch it.”
Deadline has contacted the Tucker Carlson Network for comment.
Josh and Archie are well-known YouTube pranksters and have almost 1.5 million subscribers. Previous pranks include tricking Carole Baskin into giving an interview and giving a fake award to free speech activist Katie Hopkins.