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At least two fake BBC accounts spread a false claim that Queen Elizabeth II had died on Thursday, December 29.
Two accounts, namely @BBCNewsUKI and @BBCNewsUKk, tweeted the message which read, “BREAKING: Buckingham Palace announces the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 90. Circumstances are unknown. More to follow soon.”
Several writers and even the French ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, retweeted the message before realizing that the news was not true. Buckingham Palace has yet to give any comment regarding the latest rumors, but the fake BBC accounts have since been suspended.
It’s not the first time the Queen’s “death” has been reported. Last year, a BBC reporter named Ahmen Khawaja caused a stir after she wrote on Twitter, “Elizabeth (sic) has died: @BBCWorld.” She later deleted her tweets after she realized that it was a royal obituary rehearsal she was watching in the BBC studio.
“During a technical rehearsal for an obituary, tweets were mistakenly sent from the account of a BBC journalist saying that a member of a Royal Family had been taken ill,” read the BBC’s statement at the time. “The tweets were swiftly deleted and we apologise for any offence.”
Agencies/Canadajournal
