The Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun tabloid mistakenly published a story suggesting Prince Philip had died, ahead of an emergency meeting called by Buckingham Palace.
“Prince Philip dead at 95, how did the Duke of Edinburgh die, etc, etc,” the headline read.
“Prince Philip, otherwise known as the Duke of Edinburgh, was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. The pair had four children together – Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward,” the story went on to say.
It is understood that a Sun journalist had been updating the paper’s obituary on Prince Philip when they clicked on publish, rather than save, by mistake.
Although removed from the website, the story is still visible on Google searches.
The Sun quickly changed its article, with the new headline reading “Queen’s companion: Who is Prince Philip, what was the Duke of Edinburgh’s military rank and when did he marry Queen Elizabeth?”
The damage was done, however, with Twitter users quick to take screenshots of the original article.
French media also mistakenly published stories wrongly suggesting the Duke of Edinburgh had died.
Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday morning that Prince Philip is to stand down from public duties for good.
“The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of the Queen,” a statement released by the Palace says.
It also states that he will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August.
“Her Majesty will continue to carry out a full programme of official engagements with the support of members of the Royal Family.”
News of the emergency meeting prompted a flurry of speculation overnight about the health of the Queen and Prince Philip. Royal sources said there was “no cause for alarm” about the couple’s health but gave no further indication as to the reason for the meeting.
Prince Philip was in good health on Wednesday when he made an appearance at Lord’s cricket ground.