Twitter loses its head over Buckingham Palace's 'emergency meeting'

LONDON — Buckingham Palace called an "emergency meeting" for all royal household staff Thursday that sent social media spinning with theories, speculation and GIF-jests, but also genuine concern for the health of the United Kingdom's two most famous nonagenarians: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

The big reveal was that the prince, 95, will be retiring from his royal duties this fall. The queen, a sprightly 91, will keep on keeping on.

And yet before the announcement, Twitter couldn't stop freaking out:

So conjecture that the meeting could be related to their physical fitness is not necessarily misplaced, although The Sun was forced to retract a story reporting the prince had died.

Mostly the posts on social media were frivolous: Is the queen the new Doctor Who? Is Buckingham Palace going to be available on Airbnb? Will the underperforming Arsenal soccer club get a new manager?

Many British tweeters liked to point out that Americans appeared more concerned than anyone here: