Hampshire County Council apologises over Prince Philip death mistake

The message was later removed

A notice about the death of Prince Philip that was briefly published by Hampshire County Council has been blamed on an "internal error".

It appeared on its front page for "a few minutes" and was quickly removed.

The council apologised for the blunder, saying it was investigating the "highly unusual and regrettable occurrence".

It comes as the Crown Prosecution Service announced it would not be prosecuting the prince over a recent crash near the Sandringham estate.

Prince Philip, who is four months short of his 98th birthday, retired from public life in 2017

The BBC discovered the erroneous webpage during checks for news about the leader of the county council stepping down from his post.

Councillor Roy Perry had earlier announced he would stand down as leader in May after six years in charge.

Mr Perry, who was first elected in 1970, said he would continue as a councillor until 2021 when he plans to retire.

A council spokesperson said: "In order to be able to respond quickly to events, the county council has procedures in place to ensure it is well-prepared for all eventualities. These measures include draft webpages for significant events.

"Unfortunately, as a result of an internal technical error, one of these pages was inadvertently published.

"We apologise sincerely for this having occurred and we are apologising directly to the Lord Lieutenant and Buckingham Palace."