Radio Caroline Error Announces Death of King Charles — Is King Charles Dead

Radio Caroline wrongly told listeners that is king charles dead after a computer error at its main studio in Essex triggered a false announcement on Tuesday afternoon. Peter Moore, the station manager, said the station had accidentally activated its Death of a Monarch procedure and then had to restore programming and apologise.

Moore wrote on Facebook that the station mistakenly announced that “HM the King had passed away.” He added that Radio Caroline “fell silent as would be required,” which alerted staff to restore programming and issue an on-air apology. He also said, “We apologise to HM the king and to our listeners for any distress caused.”

Peter Moore on the error

Moore said the false announcement came from “a computer error at our main studio” and that the procedure was activated on Tuesday afternoon, 19 May. Radio Caroline then resumed its broadcast after the interruption. By Wednesday afternoon, playback for Tuesday’s broadcast between 1.58pm and 5pm was not available on the station’s website.

King Charles in Northern Ireland

The mistake landed while Charles and Camilla were in Northern Ireland. They joined a folk group for a performance and watched dancers and sipped Irish whiskey in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter on the first day of their trip.

Radio Caroline was established in 1964 and operated offshore broadcasts until 1990. The station keeps the Death of a Monarch procedure ready, and this incident shows how fast a broadcast error can turn into a public correction when the wrong message reaches listeners.

scheduling error

The same day, the apologised after a scheduling error affected Elaine Paige’s show on Radio 2. Listeners heard a repeat of the previous week’s programme, and a spokesperson said, “Unfortunately, due to a scheduling error, the incorrect second hour of the show was broadcast yesterday.” The spokesperson added, “We apologise to listeners and are currently looking into how this occurred.”