The Queen goes to hospital for routine check-up

The Queen has attended hospital for a “routine” and “pre-scheduled” annual check-up, Buckingham Palace said.

It took the unusual step of confirming the private medical visit following speculation on social media about the state of the Queen’s health.

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

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

The BBC issued a statement: "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."