[Pips2022]

Just to clear this up slightly, I’m told there were obviously inferences taken from the lunchtime statement and the fact that the entire family were heading to Balmoral. In the newsrooms of ITN and the BBC (not sure about Sky, but probably the same), it was thought there would be a death announcement at 1500, then it became ‘1700’; then it became ‘1800’. One assumes these times slipped because of the desire for it not to break before members of the family- then Harry- got to Balmoral.

Even as late as 1815, the feeling was it could be 2000 or even the next morning. Buckingham Palace has always said it wouldn’t announce stuff like this too late (just for the convenience of the press), but would hold over until 0800 the next day.

At some point we may be given an exact time of the death of HMTQ- it is after all, an historical detail- but it was clearly several hours before 1830. Even the best connected journalists in newsrooms wouldn’t have known 100% but would have read the signs. Those who tweeted prematurely probably did so after misreading those fake BBC accounts etc.