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The BBC was forced to apologise today after one of its journalists tweeted the Queen was dead - because she thought a royal obituary rehearsal was real.

BBC Broadcast journalist Ahmen Khawaja caused a stir when she tweeted: “Elizabrth (sic) has died: @BBCWorld.”

However, she didn’t realise that the report she was watching in the BBC studio was a routine rehearsal for the Queen’s death that staff had been asked not to put on social media.

Quickly realising her mistake Ms Khawaja deleted the tweets and apologised - but she is now facing disciplinary action because of the blunder.

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And in another bizarre twist, she also tweeted that the Queen was being treated in King Edward VII Hospital - but by coincidence, the Queen was actually having a check-up there yesterday morning.

The tweet forced Buckingham Palace to announce the Queen’s routine appointment.

King Edward VII is the hospital usually used by members of the royal family , which is probably why it featured in an obituary rehearsal.

is the same hospital which treated the Duchess of Cambridge for severe morning sickness when she was pregnant with Prince George.

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Ms Khawaja later claimed that the incident was a “silly prank”, tweeting: “phone left unattended at home”.

However, she later deleted all tweets except one that read: “False Alarm: Have deleted previous Tweets!!”

In a statement, the BBC 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.”

Their statement did not respond to the tweet about the Queen’s ‘death’ - but when contacted, a BBC source confirmed it was aware that Ms Khawaja had tweeted the Queen had died.

A spokeswoman added: “Following this morning’s events, an investigation as part of the BBC’s disciplinary process will now take place.”

The Queen was at King Edward VII Hospital for a routine check-up and Buckingham Palace said she was not admitted or treated.

A spokesman said: “I can confirm that The Queen this morning attended her annual medical check-up at the King Edward VII Hospital in London.

“This was a routine, pre- scheduled appointment. The Queen has now left the hospital.”

Members of the royal family have routine health checks. As with all their medical conditions and treatment, the palace never discusses them unless there is a need to, usually if they are forced to cancel engagements, such as when Prince Philip was hospitalised for an operation in June 2013.

However, sources said today that the Queen had not been hospitalised and she was due to carry out her engagements as normal.

(Image: Reuters)

How the BBC prepares for bad news

The BBC holds regular rehearsals for the Queen’s death to make sure staff get it right when the real announcement is made.

As soon as the Queen or another senior royal dies, programmes will be interrupted across all channels. They will go straight to a news bulletin announcing the death.

Broadcasters will all wear sombre clothing – black ties and suits for men and black or dark clothes for women.

The national anthem will be played at the opening of the broadcast.

All coverage of the death will be produced centrally and put out across the BBC’s entire network of national and local TV and radio channels.

In order to keep the coverage as consistent as possible the same team of producers and presenters will be used.

In 2010, the BBC had to apologise after a radio DJ announced “Queen Elizabeth II has now died” and played the national anthem.

DJ Danny Kelly of BBC West Midlands was joking about a regular visitor who had stopped appearing on the station’s Facebook page.