The Queen's Twitter Account Had to Delete an Accidental Post

• A mysterious tweet was issued by the Queen's Twitter account on Thursday, reading simply, "Thanks."
• The tweet stayed up for six minutes before it was deleted.
• In that time, the post racked up 1,260 likes and 591 retweets.

As someone who butt-dials, butt-texts, and butt-Facetimes her way through life, I am in no position to judge a recent social media mishap on the official Twitter account for the Queen and the royal family. But it's reassuring to learn that even the royals—or rather, the royals' carefully selected social media managers—enjoy the odd accidental tweet from time to time!

As People reports, @RoyalFamily issued a mysterious, one word tweet on Thursday, reading simply, "Thanks." No word on who the royals wanted to thank, or what for—just an unadorned, unexplained "Thanks." The tweet was live for six minutes before the aforementioned social media managers, no doubt in a slightly heightened state of stress, caught wind and deleted it. In those six short minutes, the tweet racked up an impressive 1,260 likes and 591 retweets.

The royals, naturally, have not acknowledged the strange post, and have resumed tweeting as normal. Well, what a fun six minutes they were!

There is a very, very, very small but non-zero chance that the Queen might get so bored over the holiday period that she takes to tweeting herself: A palace source confirmed last week that she and Prince Philip would continue to isolate at Windsor Castle for Christmas, instead of gathering with the rest of the royals at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, where they usually spend the holiday. "Having considered all the appropriate advice, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have decided that this year they will spend Christmas quietly in Windsor," a royal spokesperson confirmed.

"[The Queen and Philip] are fortunate to spend Christmas with their family every year, but they understand that their family will have competing demands over the Christmas period and are content to have a quiet festive season this year," another palace insider told People. "Like everyone, their hope is that normality will return in 2021."