The BBC journalist, whose tweet sparked frenzied rumours on the social media that Queen Elizabeth II had died, is facing a disciplinary investigation following the error. The BBC had apologised after Ahmen Khawaja, a reporter for BBC Urdu, sent out a tweet saying: "'Queen Elizabrth (sic) has died:@BBCWorld"
It was sent during one of the broadcaster's regular rehearsals for royal deaths, but insiders said Khawaja was not taking part in the exercise and appeared to have overheard the rehearsal and tweeted what she thought was breaking news.
Another tweet from the account of Khawaja said: "BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth is being treated at King Edward 7th Hospital in London. Statement due shortly: @BBCWorld." Khawaja later deleted the original tweet and called it a false alarm.
"An investigation as part of the BBC's disciplinary process" was underway, The Huffington Post reported quoting a BBC source.
After the mix-up, a BBC spokesperson had said: "During a technical rehearsal for an obituary, tweets were mistakenly sent from the account of a BBC journalist saying that a member of the royal family had been taken ill. The tweets were swiftly deleted and we apologise for any offence." Buckingham Palace, too, was forced to take the unusual step of issuing a statement reassuring the British public that their 89-year-old Queen was in good health.
Coincidentally, the Queen attended a London hospital for a "routine" annual check-up.
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