Buckingham Palace replies to rumours that the Queen is dead

People were fearing for the life of Queen Elizabeth as a story from a fake account was tweeted last night.

Following the deaths of Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds this week, people feared 2016 struck again, taking the Queen of England with it. As The Queen didn't make her appointment at Christmas Mass, the public feared for the worst as a BBC News UK account tweeted a story saying the matriarch had died. It turned out the account was actually a spoof account, with no verification or proof to back it up.

Looks like a fake BBC account reporting that the queen is dead pic.twitter.com/kVKYucUv88

— Anthony Cheung (@AWMCheung) December 29, 2016

People believed it was part of a media blackout, a theory that the British press were trying to cover the news up.

#mediablackout News that the Queen is dead is incorrect; it's Britain that died, partly because people believe anything they read. — Richard Littler (@richard_littler) December 30, 2016

If the Queen is dead u can bet ur arse it wasn't from hypothermia or starvation like a lot of other 90 yr olds this Christmas #mediablackout

— EllEffCee (@ImMeHooYou) December 30, 2016

I won't beleive the queen is dead until Trump tweets about it "nice lady, I'd give her a 5, but I have a bigger throne. Fact" #mediablackout — bippidee (@bippidee) December 30, 2016

#mediablackout is amazing. 40 mins ago the whole hashtag thought the queen was dead, now because of one red tie on the BBC she's not

— ellie rice (@helloelli3) December 30, 2016

A spokesperson for the Royal family confirmed that the Queen is alive and well.

"The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh continue to recover from their heavy colds."