‘Queen Thatcher is dead’: Taiwan TV bosses mistake monarch for Maggie in broadcast of death… as Thailand uses Meryl Streep instead! 

  • Taiwanese station CTi Cable showed footage of Queen shaking hands
  • Thai Channel 5 used image of actress Meryl Streep from film The Iron Lady
  • Both stations later apologised for their errors reporting death of ex-PM

It was the story of the day yesterday, and television newscasters the world over rushed to broadcast the news that Margaret Thatcher had died in London.

So it is, perhaps, no surprise that one or two of them didn't get it quite right...

A Taiwanese news station aired footage of Queen Elizabeth II while reporting the death of the former British Prime Minister.

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Embarrassing blunder: A broadcaster in Thailand used a picture of actress Meryl Streep in a report into the death of Margaret Thatcher

Embarrassing blunder: A broadcaster in Thailand used a picture of actress Meryl Streep in a report into the death of Margaret Thatcher

Taiwanese station CTi Cable broadcast footage of the Queen waving at well-wishers, above, with its report on Lady Thatcher's death

Taiwanese station CTi Cable broadcast footage of the Queen waving at well-wishers, above, with its report on Lady Thatcher's death

Sombre news: The Taiwanese newscaster told viewers about Lady Thatcher's death while the Queen shook hands in the background

Sombre news: The Taiwanese newscaster told viewers about Lady Thatcher's death while the Queen shook hands in the background

Long to reign over us: The Queen lives on, despite the impression viewers in Taiwan may have had yesterday

Long to reign over us: The Queen lives on, despite the impression viewers in Taiwan may have had yesterday 

 VIDEO  Taiwanese media confuses Baroness Thatcher with Queen

Which is which? The Queen, left, and Lady Thatcher, right, famously got on well, and foreign journalists had trouble telling one from another

Which is which? The Queen, left, and Lady Thatcher, right, famously got on well, and foreign journalists had trouble telling one from another

CTi Cable flashed a headline declaring 'Margaret Thatcher Dies of Stroke' while running two clips of the Queen shaking hands with members of the public.

The newscaster said: 'We've learned the breaking news that ex Prime Minister, the Iron Lady, Thatcher, died at home in London due to stroke today, the 8th, this morning,  at the age of 88.

'A spokesperson for Thatcher has publicly confirmed this news.  What we know is that Thatcher has been suffering ill health in recent years.

'Since more than 10 years ago, she's suffered numerous minor strokes.  Just last December, she had surgery in London to remove a bladder tumour.'

It is not known why the station gave her age as 88, but it could either be an error or down to the Chinese custom of counting one's age as starting with one when you are born.

streep
Thatcher

Meryl Streep, left, in character as the Iron Lady for the film of the same name about Margaret Thatcher, right

The station apologised last night after viewers criticised the station for failing to distinguish between the two famous British women.

Meanwhile in Thailland, news producers for the country's army-owned Channel 5 made a similar error, using a photograph of actress Meryl Streep when they reported news of Lady Thatcher's death this morning.

For nearly two minutes, the channel displayed Lady Thatcher's biography alongside a picture of Streep in character for the film The Iron Lady, which tells the story of the former PM's life.

The production team wrote on Facebook later: 'We will improve and develop our work more carefully and are deeply sorry.'

Lady Thatcher died yesterday at the Ritz Hotel in London aged 87 after suffering a stroke.

 
 

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