Debunked: the April Fool's Day jokes that the nation swallowed

For those of you who believed it, you are not alone. The Independent's April Fool's Day story that Jamie Oliver was to be unveiled as the next Conservative candidate for the seat of Arundel and the South Downs to replace Howard Flight tricked even the professionals.

For those of you who believed it, you are not alone. The Independent's April Fool's Day story that Jamie Oliver was to be unveiled as the next Conservative candidate for the seat of Arundel and the South Downs to replace Howard Flight tricked even the professionals.

The celebrity chef's spokesman revealed that he was contacted by several news organisations yesterday morning eager to follow up the spoof. "I had to text a few people to say it was a joke. One Sunday newspaper was going absolutely mental for it," he said. "For about two seconds I even thought 'could it be true?' but then I thought 'no way'." As for the slayer of the Turkey Twizzler himself, he merely "frowned", the spokesman said.

This year's 1 April offerings produced something of a vintage crop, with the Prince of Wales - already contending with unbelievable headlines that were all too true - singled out for special attention. The Guardian devoted a large chunk of its front page to a spoof story declaring the Prince was to be Tony Blair's new "countryside tsar". The newspaper suggested Charles would work alongside Labour's election supremo, Alan Milburn, helping to mend fences with rural voters in the wake of the hunting ban.

The Daily Mail also turned its guns on the Prince, featuring a photograph showing a lookalike buying a raunchy red camisole. He is shown holding up the garment - part of "La Premiere d'Avril" range - in an attempt to spice up his impending nuptials. "In recent times, he and Camilla have been more Darby and Joan than Romeo and Juliet. Until now..." Richard Kay wrote.

BBC Radio 4's Today programme also featured an item poking fun at that sensitive issue. A package - not put together by Nicholas Witchell, incidentally - suggested the union could elevate Camilla's son, the "socialite" Tom Parker Bowles, to second in line to the throne - leapfrogging Prince William on the grounds that he is older.

The Sun continued the royal theme with a story headlined "Gipsies on Queen's lawn ... They claim right under ancient law" complete with a faked photograph of caravans on Windsor Castle's Long Walk. The newspaper ran a story alongside it, claiming "EU fools want to axe April tradition".

The Daily Mirror dreamed up an eco-friendly plan for cutting the grass at Wembley - sheep from the nearby Brent City Farm. "Players will have less allergic reactions because the natural fertiliser reduces the need for chemicals," it said.

But perhaps the most elaborate gag came from BMW. The German car maker took out £70,000 of newspaper advertising, declaring it had invented a car without a steering wheel to bypass new laws banning the use of right-hand drive cars in mainland Europe. BMW received 295 e-mail inquiries yesterday, and its "customer liaison chief Herr Huhr-Huhr" had 3,376 calls.