BBC Journalist Ahmen Khwaja wrongly kills off Queen Elizabeth II on Twitter forcing Buckingham palace to issue denial pic.twitter.com/AIxFVyD5AF — Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) June 4, 2015
Ahmen Khawaja, a broadcast journalist at the station, took to twitter and made the announcement in a series of tweets that were quickly deleted.
According to the BBC, the tweets were mistakenly sent during an “obituary rehearsal” for reporting the death of the Sovereign. The tweets stated: “BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth is being treated at King Edward 7th Hospital in London. Statement due shortly: @BBCWorld.” “Queen Elizabrth [sic] has died.”
STANDARD: BBC in 'Queen is Dead' storm pic.twitter.com/TtDUQvgBWN — Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) June 3, 2015
Coincidentally, the Queen did attend a routine annual appointment at the hospital yesterday morning.
The Buckingham Palace, which is renowned for maintaining privacy over the queen’s health, was forced to issue a statement reassuring the public that the Queen was in good health. A Palace spokesman said: “I can confirm that the Queen this morning attended her annual medical check-up at the King Edward VII’s Hospital in London. “This was a routine, pre-scheduled appointment, the Queen has now left hospital.” Contradicting the BBC’s rehearsal story, Ahmen has apologised for the blunder, blaming it on a “silly prank.”
False Alarm: Have deleted previous tweets!! — Ahmen Khawaja (@AhmenKhawaja) June 3, 2015
She is facing disciplinary action.
Sources: standard.co.uk, theguardian.com, dailymail.co.uk
