Buckingham Palace Announces Prince Philip's Retirement

When Buckingham Palace staff were called for an emergency meeting last night, the world went into a frenzy with much speculation being that either Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Philip has passed away. But all was revealed Thursday morning in the UK and it turns out that the Duke of Edinburgh was simply retiring. Last seen in pictures at Lord's Cricket Crown the day before, the 95-year-old was smiling and in good spirits but people prepared for the worst nevertheless.

Now that we know the news wasn't so bad, we can all breathe a sigh of relief and the Twittersphere is having a lot of fun commenting on fuss that social media created around the announcement.

Read on for some of the funniest reactions we've seen.

the emergency meeting might have been called not because Prince Philip is dead, but because Diana is alive

— shon faye (@shonfaye) May 4, 2017

All that hubub reminds me of something 🤔 #buckinghampalace #PrincePhilip pic.twitter.com/h5qmtxR0Bc

— Ronnie (@yougotredonyou) May 4, 2017

Did that really need an emergency meeting being call in the middle of the night? 🙄 #BuckinghamPalace #PrincePhilip

— Jack Stevenson (@JackSteves) May 4, 2017

And this is why you should never check social media before bed. #PrincePhilip #BuckinghamPalace pic.twitter.com/8t54wblgnY

— Kiran Riar (@kiranriar) May 4, 2017

Ah good, Prince Philip isn't dead and now he can read all my tweets roasting him for being dead

— Pixelated Boat (@pixelatedboat) May 4, 2017

Social Media is awesome. Within an hour prince Philip had died and been resurrected. Damn that's good. Took Jesus three days.

— Rick Gallinger (@rickyg14) May 4, 2017

I couldn't fault Prince Philip leaving public life at age 95-96. At the end of that particular football season I felt like doing the same.

— Kevin Keegan (@GalacticKeegan) May 4, 2017

1/1 I'll miss Prince Philip's casual racism, tantrums and politically incorrect discourse. It's as if early 20th century thinking is...

— Gary Denness (@garydenness) May 4, 2017

So that's it. #PrincePhilip is retiring. How anticlimactic. It takes ENTIRE staff 4 that? Was there a cake or something? #BuckinghamPalace

— Kristine ❀♡❀♡ (@KristineAz) May 4, 2017

Woke up to the shocking revelation that Prince Philip will retire from getting his picture taken and looking at stuff #BuckinghamPalace

— Fred Fantastico (@FredFantastico) May 4, 2017

Prince Philip is older than time itself, unsure why news of his retirement warranted such an immediate and urgent reaction.

— Andrew (@AndrewRacklyeft) May 4, 2017

So Prince Philip is to retire. Reckon he can now volunteer down the local foodbank. pic.twitter.com/70OJ5zZ0Uu

— Saints Mike (@Mike7167) May 4, 2017

prince philip will retire from a storied career of public racism to practice racism in private. we ask you respect his privacy at this time

— j.r. hennessy (@jrhennessy) May 4, 2017

According to twitter Prince Philip has died, come back to life, bought a dog & congratulated Harry on his engagement. #BuckinghamPalace

— Laura Michelle (@misslaurashell) May 4, 2017