Queen Elizabeth Death 2015: Monarch Alive & Well, False Rumors Sparked by Rogue Tweet

An errant series of tweets by a BBC journalist that announced Queen Elizabeth's death sparked a worldwide frenzy from major news outlets.

One of BBC's journalists, Ahmen Khawaja, sent out a series of tweets on Wednesday saying that Queen Elizabeth II had been taken to a London hospital and that the British monarch incidentally died.

The journalist responsible for the whole debacle is facing disciplinary action from the news network, according to Telegraph. The news corporation later apologized for the tweet by releasing a statement: 

"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 apologise for any offence."

Although the tweets have long been deleted, they circulated online and were picked up by major news outlets, CNN and a German newsource Bild. It even reached the Buckingham Palace. Hence, the palace issued a statement to quell the rumors.

"I can confirm that the Queen this morning attended her annual medical check-up at the King Edward VII's Hospital in London," a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

It was also a coincidence that the queen was at the hospital that day the tweets were published.

"This was a routine pre-scheduled appointment, the queen has now left hospital and carries on with her engagements," the spokesman added.

Ahmen Khawaja offered an excuse for her erroneous tweets. NBC News reports that she blamed a prankster going through her phone as she left it at home.

She tweeted: "phone left unattended at home. Silly prank, Apologies for upsetting anyone!" It appears that Khawaja's Twitter account may have been deactivated.

The BBC also gave out an explanation and stated that they were carrying out an obituary rehearsal training exercise. BBC Category One public figures refer to the four senior members of the royal family: including the Queen, Prince Charles, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Duke of Cambridge, according to The Guardian.

"It's essential that we can rehearse these sensitive scenarios privately," said the BBC's Jonathan 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 explained why rehearsals were carried out, saying: "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."

"They are all done in real time and the presenters change into something more sombre, just as they would do if it was the real thing,"  the source added.