LONDON — BBC conducted a “category one obituary rehearsal” for Queen Elizabeth, 89, Wednesday morning which caused international confusion among media outlets, The Guardian reported.
Ahmen Khawaja, a BBC reporter tweeted:
BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth is being treated at King Edward 7th Hospital in London. Statement due shortly: @BBCWorld
The reporter quickly deleted the tweet and said it was a prank. However, BBC’s official statement said they were running an “obituary rehearsal,” not a prank.
https://twitter.com/BBCNewsPR/status/606034787036471296/photo/1
Khawaja then deleted a tweet about it being a prank. Deleting Tweets is an ongoing ethical discussion in journalism.
https://twitter.com/AhmenKhawaja/status/606020611907973120
The original tweet prompted CNN to send an alert to affiliate stations in the U.S. of the Queen’s hospitalization.
Affiliates, please disregard our previous tweet about Queen Elizabeth. It was sent in error.
— CNN Newsource (@CNNNewsource) June 3, 2015
Coincidentally, the Queen did go to a hospital Wednesday for a routine check-up according to The Guardian. Buckingham Palace confirmed Queen Elizabeth is doing just fine. She has a public appearance scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
The Queen will become the country’s longest serving Monarch in September.
