LEGO employee (briefly) caught up in Kate conspiracy theory

Just when you thought the Kate Middleton conspiracy theories couldn’t get any wackier, an unfortunate LEGO employee has been dragged into the mix by way of a baffling coincidence.

If your news cycle is more LEGO and less British royal family conspiracy theory, here’s a quick primer: the Princess of Wales has become the subject of intense speculation following her abdominal surgery earlier this year, as her absence from the public eye – and Kensington Palace’s tight-lipped approach to news – has fuelled conjecture across social media that she’s ill, in personal crisis or just missing altogether.

The latest notch in the belt of this developing story emerged within the last 48 hours, after The Sun obtained footage from one Nelson Silva of Kate and William (the Prince of Wales) allegedly visiting a farm shop in Windsor over the weekend. But even that hasn’t dampened the flames of conspiracy – and one Twitter user has gone viral after igniting suspicions around the veracity of not only the source of the footage, but the identities of the people photographed.

So the ‘bystander’ who shot the Windsor Farm footage is a Film Producer called Nelson Silva. What’s the bet he paid Kate and William lookalikes for a publicity stunt then sold to the highest bidder. Meanwhile the media are realising they’ve been had… #RoyalAnnouncement pic.twitter.com/yxPJh2XcfT

— Siobhán????????? (@She_Ra_Rocks) March 19, 2024

“So the ‘bystander’ who shot the Windsor Farm footage is a Film Producer called Nelson Silva,” She_Ra_Rocks tweeted. “What’s the bet he paid Kate and William lookalikes for a publicity stunt then sold to the highest bidder?” Their post has since racked up 1,400 retweets and 10,000 likes – and is accompanied by a string of images that link the story to Nelson Silva, Digital Community Engagement Lead at the LEGO Group.

The first is a screenshot from The Sun’s story with a caption identifying Silva as the source of the footage; the second is a screenshot of Companies House revealing Nelson Silva to be linked to ‘Graffik Studios Ltd’; and the third is a screenshot of the Twitter profile of Nelson Silva, LEGO employee. But these dots have apparently been joined completely in error.

“Weirdest disclaimer I’ve ever had to make: to all journalists on LinkedIn, I am NOT the Nelson Silva who shot a video of Princess Kate,” the LEGO Group’s Nelson Silva clarified on LinkedIn. The LEGO Group itself also responded to She_Ra_Rocks’ initial post to clarify the situation: “Please note that our colleague was in no way involved with this footage and has no connection to this story. We would ask that people please stop sharing incorrect information.”

The Nelson Silva who works for the LEGO Group appears to be based at the company’s offices in Slough, which is effectively next door to Windsor – where the footage was taken – so this is still some coincidence, even though that’s all it is. And we definitely didn’t have ‘LEGO mixed up in royal family conspiracy theory’ on our bingo card for 2024…

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