Prince Philip blunder leaves train site red-faced after it wrongly announces he’s dead

Brits were baffled after a train company mistakenly announced the death of Prince Philip on its website.

TransPennine Express [TPE] made the howler on Thursday, March 4, as the Duke of Edinburgh spends his 17th night in hospital.

People visiting the website were greeted with the message: “We are saddened by the death of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.”

TPE was alerted to the clanger on social media, which was spelt out in capitals and prominent on its site.

It took around 30 minutes to rectify, the Manchester Evening News reports.

At the time, TFE’s Twitter account posted: “We are aware of this error on our website and we are working as quickly as possible to rectify this.”

Prince Philip was moved by ambulance to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London on Monday, March 1, where he underwent successful heart surgery.

He was initially admitted to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital on February 16 as a precautionary measure after feeling unwell.

The Palace said the 99-year-old duke will remain in hospital for “treatment, rest and recuperation” for a number of days.

Concern will be heightened for the duke because of his advanced age, with the Duchess of Cornwall saying on Wednesday, March 3, that Philip was “slightly improving” and adding: “We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

The news was announced amid growing tensions within the royal family ahead of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s controversial televised Oprah interview.

Meghan said in an extract that she could not be expected to stay silent if The Firm played a part in “perpetuating falsehoods” about her and Harry.

The Sussexes have faced calls for the broadcast on Sunday, March 7, to be postponed out of respect for Philip.

But a source close to the couple told the PA news agency that American network CBS is not believed to have any intention of changing the date.

“There are a lot of people who are going to talk about this until the programme airs, but the programming and all the rest of it is ultimately up to CBS, we’re not involved in that side of things,” the source said.

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“As it stands, I don’t think there is any intention from the programme maker to change its air date.”

Philip has been treated for heart problems in the past and in 2011 was rushed to hospital by helicopter from Sandringham after suffering chest pains as the royal family were preparing for Christmas.