Prince William County magazine sees surge in messages after Queen Elizabeth II's death

Mix-up leads to Prince William Co. magazine publisher receiving condolences for Queen Elizabeth II

A Prince William County, Virginia magazine publisher says emails to the publication have surged since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. FOX 5's David Kaplan reports.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. - A Prince William County, Virginia magazine publisher says emails to the publication have surged since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

When it comes to notable events within the royal family, these boosts "Happen[s] every time," Rebecca Barnes said.

Prince William Living Magazine is a lifestyle publication focused on the county.

However, the magazine has long received emails meant for Prince William, the Queen’s grandson. Typically, Barnes says they’ll get one to two a week, but a marriage, death, new baby leads to an uptick.

Queen Elizabeth’s death has meant that uptick is bigger than normal.

"I’ve received more than 100 emails as of today, Saturday," Barnes says.

The reason Barnes thinks this is happening: Google.

When you search "Email Prince William", the magazine is the first thing that pops up on Google. The official contact page for the royal family is second.

If past is prologue, Barnes thinks the number of emails will rise for a few weeks.

"I expect that it will continue to go up as the days progress, because it’s, I believe at 10-day event, and so I expect that every day we’ll get more and more messages from all over the world," Barnes said.

As for the tenor of the letters themselves, "They were almost all nice, every once in a while you’ll get one that’s not, But most people were respectful, sending their condolences," Barnes said.

Barnes added some people have also thought the magazine is where they can apply for jobs with the monarchy, and offering up items like a casket cover for the Queen.

Barnes hopes people who want to wish the royal family well figure out the proper way to reach out.