Buckingham Palace Retract Queen Elizabeth Death Announcement

An extraordinary press release published and then quickly deleted by the Royal family's website has led many to believe Queen Elizabeth is dead

A press release stating that Queen Elizabeth died in her sleep yesterday morning appeared briefly on the Royal Family’s official website before being taken down – but not before alert internet users captured screenshots of the article and proof the press release appeared on Google.

The official statement, released by the Queen’s press secretary at the request of Prince Charles, states that Queen Elizabeth passed away in her sleep at Sandringham House after becoming “increasingly frail in recent weeks following her bad cough and chest infection over Christmas.“

Screenshot of the press statement announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth.

Prince Charles and Princess Anne were at Sandringham with the Queen at the time of her passing, according to the release. The statement also said Prince Charles will ascend to the throne:

“A meeting of the Accession Council will be held this evening to proclaim the accession of Prince Charles as the new Sovereign. His coronation will be held late in the year after a suitable mourning period.“

The press release was deleted from the official royal.uk site shortly after publication, raising suspicions the release was unintended for public view.

The press release published by the official Royal website briefly appeared at the top of Google search results for the Queen.

However the reason for the article’s removal is unclear with commentators suggesting the detailed nature of the statement makes it unlikely to be a pre-prepared statement released by accident.

Royal.uk has not responded to requests for clarification about why they removed the statement that was ordered to be released to the public by Prince Charles.

The press release gave details of the Queen’s death, suggesting it was not a generic standby article published by accident.

Royal watchers and conspiracy theorists have been speculating for days that the Queen is already dead, with claims a secret funeral has already taken place.

It has been suggested the Royals may be delaying the public announcement about Queen Elizabeth’s death until after they have taken care of secret rituals they would prefer the public do not know about.

The release included quotes from British PM Theresa May and the White House, suggesting that although the announcement has not been made in public, it has been made in private.

Rumors are also swirling that a power struggle at the heart of the Royal family has caused the delay in announcing the news. Prince Charles is said to be locked in battle with William over who will ascend to the throne. It is claimed that William knows secrets about his father that the Royal family do not want exposed – as such, William believes he can skip his father and be coronated King in 2017.

This situation could explain the sudden release – and then removal – of the death notice. Prince Charles’ camp – frustrated with the delay in announcing the death to the public and the subsequent delay of the meeting of the Accession Council – may have tried to put an end to William’s back room attempts to wrest the crown away from Charles by forcing the information on the public before the royal household was ready.