Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, has seen much more things than most people in this world.
As the Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms, she was born in 1926, and was features on the cover of Time magazine in 1929. She acceded to the throne in 1952, met U.S. President Harry Truman and Winston Churchill. She had public duties during the World War II, ro then became the first Elizabeth to rule in Scotland, became the first reigning monarch to visit all Commonwealth nations, saw the acceleration in the decolonization of Africa and the Caribbean, and many more.
The Queen is also regarded as the longest-serving female head of state in history, the oldest living and longest-reigning current monarch, and the longest-serving incumbent head of state.
Back in 2015, on the opening the Borders Railway, on the day she became the longest-reigning British monarch, in her speech, she said she had never aspired to achieve that milestone.
And when she contacted COVID-19' in 2022, the world started to become worry about her wellbeing.
After all, she contacted it at the age of 95.
And it was Hollywood Unlocked, a celebrity news site, that first said that the Queen has died.
According to an Instagram post, sources close to the Royal Palace informed them exclusively about the incident.
The report cited unnamed sources from the "Royal Kingdom."
"She was scheduled to be at British Vogue editor Edward Enninful’s wedding, but she was discovered dead."
Later, the website published another piece defending its story.
Jason Lee, the founder of the Hollywood Unlocked site, posted on Instagram, saying that regarding the story, "I’ve never lied," and that "I’ve never been wrong."
Hollywood Unlocked was widely criticized for the report, but Lee doubled down on the claims.
"I trust my sources."
"We don't post lies and I always stand by my sources. Waiting for an official statement from the palace," he wrote in one tweet.
Hollywood Unlocked and Lee were confident because the Queen has not been seen or heard for over a week, and that Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has been named the "Queen Consort" when the Queen past away.
Instantly, this news prompted rounds of echoing "God save the Queen" on social media networks.
Hearing this, statements from the palace were then released.
According to a Buckingham Palace official, Queen Elizabeth II was already recuperating from COVID-19 just hours before the news was published.
"As Her Majesty is still experiencing mild cold-like symptoms, she has decided not to undertake her planned virtual engagements today," according to the statement, "but will continue with light duties."
She just had her phone meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the palace confirmed.
Instagram quickly stepped in, and classified it as fake information."
This was when Lee and Hollywood Unlocked realize that they were wrong.
"Our deepest apologies go out to the #RoyalFamily and all involved in this embarrassing situation,” Lee said.
"It was an accident and we’re working hard to make sure that this mistake never happens again. The intern journalist was misinformed and published the draft post by mistake. – HU," Hollywood Unlocked reportedly wrote in a since-deleted tweet.
The original report, which had the headline "HU Exclusive: Queen Elizabeth Dead," has also been deleted.
"Although I've never been wrong when breaking a story, because this involves The Queen, this is one time I would want to be," Lee wrote. "And based on Wednesday's report from the Palace, I can say my sources got this wrong and I sincerely apologize to The Queen and the Royal Family."
The apology was met with some criticism and skepticism.
Some Twitter users claim that Lee's apology appeared insincere as it was buried down in the newer reports. Some also considered that Hollywood Unlocked's update appeared to be defending the inaccurate claims of the story that had been taken down.
Others however, defended Lee, with some saying that it was "an honest mistake."
"Being at the cutting edge of journalism means sometimes getting things wrong. Don't let anyone get to you about this," one user said.
"All news outlets get it wrong sometimes despite their best efforts," another said.
As a monarch, the Queen is literally a celebrity.
Her Majesty has occasionally faced republican sentiment and press criticism of the royal family, particularly after the breakdown of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, the death of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, and the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, her husband of 73 years, and others.
And not to mention, the Royal Family chaos after Prince Harry and Megan fled to the U.S..
Read: Prince Harry And Meghan's Deals With Netflix And Spotify, Following The Royal Family Chaos