Many Believe Prince Harry & Meghan are Moving to Dutchess County

An online article claiming to have proof that the royal couple is moving to the Hudson Valley has created quite a stir.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made headlines by announcing that they were fleeing England and moving to North America, separating themselves from the royal family. A local newspaper, however, claims that their plan to live in Canada is just a decoy to hide the truth that the couple is actually headed for Staatsburg, New York.

Hudson Valley News, a weekly newspaper that publishes local news and opinions every Wednesday, posted a story on their Facebook page that had many people excited about the possibility of Harry and Meghan becoming permanent Hudson Valley residents.

The report, written by Jim Langan is titled "The British Are Coming." In it, Langan boasts about his paper being the first publication to reveal that Chelsea Clinton was to be married in Rhinebeck. Despite confidentiality agreements signed by florists and caterers, Hudson Valley News claims that it was able to break the story about the wedding before anyone else.

That's when Langan revealed the shocking news about Harry and Meghan:

So here we go again. The Hudson Valley News has learned exclusively that the Duke and Dutchess of Sussex have decided to make Dutchess County their new home.

The story goes on to suggest that Harry and Megan will be taking up residence at the Belvedere Hotel, which was secretly purchased by the Duke and Dutchess over the summer. The property on Route 9 in Staatsburg has sat vacant for quite a while. Langan added that his information has come from "impeccable sources within the Royal Family."

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This all sounds pretty incredible, right? Well, that's probably because none of it is true.

It turns out that Langan's story will actually appear in the "opinion" section of this week's printed version of Hudson Valley News. According to Langan, the story "is absolute parody." But the writer does admit that he received emails believing it to be true. Although the entire story is completely made up, some readers who have posted their real reactions to the story on Facebook seemed to miss the joke.

Those who actually scanned further down the page, however, quickly sensed something was up. Odd details, like Markle meeting with the County Executive about building a new sound stage and production facility or Harry's interest in joining Rhinebeck's Climate Change Group just didn't seem to make much sense.

It's unclear what the real purpose of this fake-news story is. Whether it's just an innocent attempt at humor or a plan to gain attention for the newspaper is unclear. What we do know is that none of it is based on any facts or truth.

This is a great reminder for everyone to approach all of the news you see on Facebook with a healthy bit of skepticism. What may be advertised as "news" may actually just be one big joke.

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