Is Queen Elizabeth Still Alive? What's Happening With Monarch's Health Amid Death Rumors

Reports of the Queen of England’s health and “heavy cold” have now given way to rumors circulating across the internet.

A recent message posted Thursday on Twitter by what appeared to be the BBC News UK account, announced that Queen Elizabeth II was dead. The message read, “BREAKING: Buckingham Palace announces the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 90. Circumstances are unknown…”

The Tweet, which appeared to have come from a BBC News account, was false. The Twitter account has since been suspended.

Rumors about celebrity deaths are rampant, especially since singer George Michael died on Christmas. His death was followed by "Star Wars" icon Carrie Fisher Tuesday. Then her mother, Debbie Reynolds, died the next day.

The celebrity death news did not necessarily bode well when it was announced Queen Elizabeth II took ill with a “heavy cold,” according to reports from the palace made on Christmas Day. It was then announced the monarch would be missing her famous Christmas service and that she had delayed her winter vacation. The palace assured she was merely missing the service as a “precautionary measure.”

It was later noted by CBS News that the queen, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, had not missed a Christmas service in almost 30 years. The queen, who normally makes the annual journey to her estate for Christmas by train, was also said to have taken a helicopter to avoid crowds, the news outlet reported.

Skeptics have long since wondered whether the queen would be stepping down from the throne. The queen’s eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales, would be next in line to succeed the throne. His eldest son, Prince William Duke of Cambridge, would be the next heir.