Dead wrong: Brazilian newspaper ridiculed for reporting Queen's death

A leading Brazilian newspaper has made an embarrassing blunder over the Queen's death. Photo / Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth has died "at the age of XX". That's according to a leading media outlet in Brazil that published a 1300 word obituary about Her Majesty - who is still very much alive.

The Guardian reports that Folha de São Paulo, a Brazilian newspaper, declared the Queen's death on its website around lunchtime on Monday, revealing the British monarch had died "as a result of XXXXXXXX".

"Elizabeth will go down in history as the longest-reigning British sovereign," read the prepared piece, potentially seen by millions of South Americans before it was deleted and a technical error was blamed for its premature publishing.

The newspaper addressed the blunder, telling readers: "It is normal practice in journalism to prepare stories about possible and/or probable situations, such as the death of world leaders, celebrities and public figures. Folha regrets the error."

But it's not an error that will be easily forgotten, nor was it caught swiftly enough to go unnoticed.

The internet has taken great delight in ridiculing the media outlet.

Brazilian actor and comedian Gregorio Duvivier took note of the article's line ""at the age of XX", commenting: "How cute the Folha doesn't want to reveal how old the Queen was when she died."

"God save the Folha," another reader tweeted while many questioned the image chosen to illustrate the piece: a jovial snap of the Queen laughing - at her own death?

Would one be amused by the blunder? Photo / Getty Images

The Guardian notes much criticism came from supporters of Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, a South American version of Trump in regards to his right-wing populist position and penchant for making digs at the Folha, much like Trump did with CNN.

Comments such as: "Folha, you are a veritable factory of fake news, claiming Little Lizzy has died," came from Bolsonaristas.

And a member of the president's Liberal party wrote: "The Folha de São Paulo tried to kill the Queen of England to see if people would buy it. If they had, they'd surely have tried to kill president Bolsonaro too."

Meanwhile, Brazil news director for the Associated Press, David Biller, was a little more understanding: "Newspaper's nightmare: accidentally publishing someone's obit. In this case, Queen Elizabeth. Eek …"