Queen Elizabeth II is not dead: Fake BBC account announces monarch's demise

Two fake BBC accounts tweeted that Queen Elizabeth II “is dead at the age of 90” in a hoax on Thursday night.

Accounts with the handles @BBCNewsUKI and @BBCNewsUKk claimed the British monarch had passed away in “unknown” circumstances, and the news spread across the social networking site with the French ambassador to the US, Gérard Araud, even retweeting the message before realising it was a cruel prank.

The hoax tweet read: “BREAKING: Buckingham Palace announces the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 90. Circumstances are unknown. More to follow.”

The fake BBC accounts have now been suspended and Buckingham Palace has refrained from making any comment.

But it’s not the first time the Queen has been the victim of a macabre gambit.

BBC reporter Ahmen Khawaja posted on Twitter last year: “Elizabrth (sic) has died: @BBCWorld.”

She later admitted that she thought a royal obituary rehearsal she had witnessed at work was real.

Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth was too ill to attend the traditional Christmas morning service at the church on her Sandringham estate in Norfolk as she was recovering from a “heavy cold,” and it was the first time in 30 years that the monarh had been absent.

However, a palace spokesperson told Us Weekly she would “participate in the royal family Christmas celebrations during the day.”