Queen’s Hospital Tweet Called Queen Elizabeth Dead In Hospital In Death Rumor Scare By BBC’s Ahmen Kawaja


Is Queen Elizabeth dead? When BBC reporter Ahmen Kawaja made the Queen’s hospital tweet it was only supposed to be as an internal technical test for the Queen’s health checkup, but instead BBC caused an uproar which turned into pronouncements about Queen Elizabeth’s death.

The Queen’s hospital tweet read, “BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth is being treated at King Edward VII hospital in London.” Worse, other publications began to pick up the story immediately, with some declaring the Queen dead. Queen Elizabeth’s death announcement may have been way too early, but the English queen did in fact go to the hospital this morning in England as part of a routine annual checkup.

“The Queen this morning attended her annual medical check-up at the King Edward VII Hospital in London. This was a routine, pre-scheduled appointment. The Queen has now left the hospital,” a statement from the royal palace said, immediately correcting the BBC’s Twitter account. “Reports that The Queen has been ‘hospitalized’ are incorrect. The Queen’s next engagement is a reception for new and retired Lord Lieutenants at Buckingham Palace this evening.”

Apparently, Ahmen Kawaja was in an early morning meeting when she or someone else used her Twitter account to blast out the Queen’s hospital tweet. Kawaja has responded to the controversy by claiming she was hacked or pranked, saying, “Phone left unattended at home. Silly prank, apologies for upsetting anyone!” She quickly deleted the original tweet once the error was noticed, but now even her entire account has been deleted.

BBC, on the other hand, officially has blamed the Queen’s hospital tweet during a “category-one obituary rehearsal.”

“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 BBC claims. “The tweets were swiftly deleted and we apologize for any offence.”

The head of BBC news-gathering, Jonathan Munro, also confirmed the BBC’s version of what caused the Queen’s hospital tweet, but also stressed how they normally try to prevent anyone from knowing they are doing it.

“It’s essential that we can rehearse these sensitive scenarios privately,” said Munro in an email. “It’s mainly a technical procedure looking at the use of the studio. It does not involve any sites outside New Broadcasting House and it will not include radio or online.”

A BBC insider told The Guardian, “It’s no secret that big media organisations carry out rehearsals for how they would cover the death of a major public figure. But the important thing is you don’t tell anyone you’re doing it.”

According to the Daily Beast, BBC says they are “looking into exactly what happened,” but it appears BBC reporter Ahmen Kawaja may have made a fatal mistake with the Queen’s hospital tweet.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, a Spanish royal named Princess Cristina is facing potential jail time for tax fraud, but even though prosecutors don’t seem to think she is guilty the judge is insisting that the princess’ bail money be set at an amazing $3 million.

[Image via Google Images]

Share this article: Queen’s Hospital Tweet Called Queen Elizabeth Dead In Hospital In Death Rumor Scare By BBC’s Ahmen Kawaja
More from Inquisitr