This is how that wild 'Prince Philip dead' rumour started
Britain woke up Thursday morning in the midst of feverish speculation over the health of Prince Philip.
Overnight, the hashtag #BuckinghamPalace and the topics "The Queen," "Prince Philip" and "Royal Family" were on top of UK's Twitter trends, with tens of thousands of people riffing on rumours that the husband of Queen Elizabeth II had died.
But how did the rumour start?
At 1 a.m. Thursday, the MailOnline published the online version of an article that appears on the print edition of the Daily Mail about an emergency meeting called by the Lord Chamberlain, the Queen's most senior officer of the Royal Household.
Sources at Buckingham Palace told the Mail the meeting was "highly unusual" and sparked "fevered talk about an imminent announcement concerning the monarch or her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh."
The story was immediately picked up by fringe media in the U.S., France and Canada.
Shortly after that, the UK's Royal Central published an article citing unnamed "French media" that reported the death of Prince Philip:
That triggered frenzied speculation on Twitter:
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However, no French media appeared to be doing so.
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Rare, an American news site, also published a "Prince Philip is dead" rumour:
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And The Sun briefly published on its website and then removed an article about the Duke of Edinburgh's death titled: “Prince Philip dead at 95, how did the Duke of Edinburgh die, etc etc”.
In the morning, Buckingham Palace put all the rumours to rest saying:
"You could safely assume the Queen and Prince Philip are not dead."
Another later added that there was ‘no cause for alarm’ about the meeting, which is due to take place at 10 a.m.
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Topics Social Media X/Twitter
