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News channels mistake Thatcher for queen

Taipei - A Taiwanese cable news channel apologised on Tuesday for running a photo of Queen Elizabeth II when reporting the death of Margaret Thatcher, while another Thai station showed a photo of actress Meryl Streep.

Taiwan's CTI TV, in footage aired on Monday evening, showed the queen dressed in a green coat and waving at the crowd with a caption reading: "Former British prime minister Thatcher passed away, the Iron Lady is missed."

In Thailand, army-run Channel 5 TV station also apologised after it showed a photo of Streep playing Thatcher in the 2011 semi-biographical film The Iron Lady during its report on the death of the former premier.

'Solved the problem'

"We apologise for the mistake over the use of the photo during the report on Margaret Thatcher which caused misunderstanding. Our team will try harder and be more careful," it wrote on its official Facebook page.

A source at the channel said the job of finding the picture had been outsourced to another company.

"The news anchor noticed the mistake and solved the problem by saying her story was made into a Hollywood movie played by Meryl Streep," the source revealed.

Thatcher, dubbed the "Iron Lady," died of a stroke on Monday in London aged 87.

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