The BBC sparked panic the queen had died today, after a tweet was sent out during a technical rehearsal of her death.
A BBC journalist erroneously announced that Queen Elizabeth was in the hospital on Twitter today, after a “technical rehearsal” for the monarch’s death ended in major embarrassment for the corporation.
It subsequently emerged, however, that the queen did indeed visit a hospital this morning for her annual checkup, leading to whispers of a conspiracy on Twitter.
Official sources added, “Reports that the queen has been ‘hospitalised’ are incorrect. The queen’s next engagement is a reception for new and retired Lord Lieutenants at Buckingham Palace this evening.”
But it was BBC reporter Ahmen Kawaja’s tweet: “BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth is being treated at King Edward VII hospital in London” that set off a flurry of panicked activity across newsrooms, as rumors that she had died spread like wildfire.
Kawaja then attempted to undo the damage by sending out another tweet, in which she appeared to claim her phone had been used without her permission.
However, the BBC blamed the snafu on a dress rehearsal gone wrong, saying, “During a technical rehearsal for an obituary, tweets were mistakenly sent from the account of a BBC journalist saying that a member of the royal family had been taken ill. The tweets were swiftly deleted and we apologize for any offence.”
A spokesperson for the BBC said they were still “looking into exactly what happened” but that they “stood by their statement.”
Read more: The Daily Beast
{Matzav.com Newscenter}
Why on Earth do they have a ‘rehearsal’ for her death??
morons
did she really die?
such a major event has to be planned by the news agencies before.
yeah. these are all weak excuses that don’t begin to be true..