The Queen fell victim to a cruel internet death hoax this week, with a viral story circulating that the 90-year-old died in her sleep.
Nigerian television among others took to twitter to report that Her Majesty had died, despite it being a fabrication created by an imitation news website.
This is not the first time Her Majesty’s death has been wrongly reported. Last year a BBC journalist tweeted that The Queen had died after being hospitalised at King Edward VII Hospital in London.
It is believed the journalist watched a royal death rehearsal, where the BBC practice what to do when HM passes away. The journalist was unaware that rehearsals were taking place and tweeted the news on social media before swiftly deleting them.
Many celebrities have fallen victim to death hoaxes online, including Bon Jovi, Celine Dion and Jerry Springer, however, it is still rare for the monarch to be a victim as people generally do not believe the reports
Her Majesty is currently at Balmoral, spending the summer away from London, however she is still working and keeping abreast of correspondents.
Earlier this week, HM made a personal donation to help with the search and rescue operation in Italy following a huge earthquake in the country which killed almost 300 people and has left hundreds more injured.
Her Majesty gave the unspecified amount to the British Red Cross, a charity of which she is patron of.
In a statement she said: “Prince Philip and I were saddened to hear of the loss of life following the earthquake in central Italy.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Italy, especially the family and friends of those affected.
“Elizabeth R.”
Earlier this week there was an article on Facebook about a rehearsal that was held for Prince Philip’s funeral. There were many comments of condolences written by people who obviously didn’t understand what they had read.
Old folks, not just the Queen, have to endure people who can’t wait for them to die.
It’s a sad fact of life. I’m an old guy who has people around me (usually relatives) who come to my house and unabashedly pick out things they want when I die. So it’s no surprise that an awful lot of people can’t wait for the Queen to die: and of course, every reporter wants a scoop
That’s messed up. Keep an eye on who picks what and make sure those items go to someone else or are donated to the needy.
The BBC reporter tweeted on purpose – you can’t accidentally think the Queen died without proof. She looked like a muppet and probably enjoyed every second of her fifteen minutes! The BBC unfortunately are blatantly anti-Monarchy and pro-EU, so it didn’t surprise me it was a BBC journalist who decided to cause trouble.