BBC tweet briefly stirs fear for queen's life

Buckingham Palace takes the unusual step of confirming that Queen Elizabeth II went to a hospital for her annual medical checkup after social media comments touched off speculation on her health.

The palace says in a statement Wednesday that the 89-year-old monarch attended her annual medical checkup at King Edward VII Hospital in London, and left after the routine exam.

Speculation started after a tweet posted on a BBC account said the queen was being treated at the hospital.

The BBC later apologized, saying the mistake occurred during an exercise it described as a “technical rehearsal for an obituary.”

The BBC says “the tweets were swiftly deleted and we apologize for any offense.”

— AP