Unconfirmed rumours of the Queen's death cause havoc online

Twitter was lighting up on Monday with a rumour that Queen Elizabeth has passed away, despite there being no evidence to support the claim, leaving people confused as to the validity of the whispers.

A flurry of Tweets crowded the platform as people spread the rumour, which appears to be completely false, with some claiming the monarch suffered a heart attack and had passed away, while others stressed that she survived.

After some digging, it appears the rumours are the result of a single screenshot from a Whatsapp conversation shared online, from someone known only as ‘Gibbo’, claiming to have received the information from a guard regiment at the palace.

“Queen's passed away this morning, heart attack being announced 9:30,” Gibbo wrote in the message.

He claims the message was initially sent to a guards regiment Whatsapp group, though as with the rest of the story, there is zero evidence to confirm it is legitimate.

The Queen was last seen in public less than a week ago, visiting the headquarters of the Royal Philatelic Society on November 26.

By Tuesday morning, the MailOnline, had quoted a source ‘rubbishing’ the claims, meanwhile the official Twitter account of the royal family tweeted - although not about the rumours - furthering speculation that it is business as usual at Buckingham Palace and the Queen is as fit as a fiddle.

That did not, of course, stop the world of social media from speculating wildly.

One Twitter user didn’t seem convinced that there wasn’t something going on at the palace.

“No confirmation from any British big-time news outlet confirming that this is a hoax,” they pointed out.

On the other hand, many, including the editor of Royal Central, Charlie Proctor, came out slamming the rumours.

“The Queen is not dead. She is alive and well and is very much looking forward to hosting President Trump and other world leaders at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday for the NATO reception,” Charlie tweeted.

Others also expressed reservations around the possibility the rumours are true.

“Highly doubt her death would be secretly announced over WhatsApp,” one person pointed out.

‘Idiot hour’

Others just thought Gibbo had some serious explaining to do.

“Idiot hour on Twitter as people rush to believe lies about the Queen's non-existent death. Elizabeth Regina is still very much alive. Charles will have to wait,” was another comment.

The unsubstantiated rumours have been neither confirmed nor denied at this point by any official royal sources.

It seems likely at this stage the ‘news’ is just another death hoax phenomenon coming from the social media platform.

Peter Kay, Keanu Reeves, Betty White and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, are just some to fall victim to a trending hashtag heralding their premature, and inaccurate, deaths in the past.

With Britain in the dead of night as the rumours swirled, the Queen is expected to appear at an official engagement on December 3, where she will be hosting a reception at Buckingham Palace to welcome leaders to London.

US President Donald Trump will be one of the world leaders attending the Nato summit on international security in London.

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