“King Charles is dead.” A radio station spread the fake news about the death of King Charles III and did not correct it for almost half an hour. Three months after the sensational gaffe by a UK broadcaster, the investigation by the telecommunications authority (Ofcom) clarifies the ‘royal’ error.
We need to rewind to May 19th – Radio Caroline, an Essex broadcaster, during the Barry Marsh Show, broadcast 3 recorded messages announcing the death of King Charles III:
“We have suspended our normal programming until further announcements as a mark of respect following the death of His Majesty King Charles III”. The announcement was followed by the national anthem and about 16 minutes of silence. After almost half an hour, the correction came with the intervention of a speaker:
“I have just been informed that a short while ago we mistakenly broadcast some information. I haven’t heard them personally, but they are incorrect, it’s a technical problem and we obviously apologize”. According to Ofcom’s reconstruction, it seems that the speaker – after realizing the error – stopped playing the incriminating files and, in a panic, left the broadcaster’s studios.
Ofcom announced that it had received two complaints regarding the broadcast and found violations of rule 5.1, which requires news to be reported accurately and impartially, and rule 5.2: errors in news dissemination must be highlighted and corrected live in a timely manner.
“We considered this to be a very significant error on a matter of particular public importance. Radio Caroline did not broadcast an apology and clarification until approximately 30 minutes after the first airing of the incorrect announcements,” was the authority’s verdict.
How is it possible for such an error to occur? “The licensee was monitoring the broadcast at the time of the incident, a technician was already aware of the problem but it took time to understand what had happened and restore the scheduled program. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that the presenter was streaming the program remotely.” In short, a disaster. All clear? No, a detail is missing.
Also on record is a further explanation from the broadcaster. The files containing pre-recorded obituaries were accompanied by “a series of strict instructions for presenters and executives.”
Clear orders, in short, to be implemented only in very specific circumstances. A staff member, however, got curious and clicked, opening Pandora’s box. Radio Caroline stated that it “takes the matter very seriously” and acted “as soon as possible.”
The broadcaster added that the staff member who played the files was reprimanded and “apologized.” To avoid similar incidents, the files were deleted from the studio computer’s desktop.
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Adnkronos International, Rome; (TNS) ; ©2026 GMC S.A.P.A. di G. P. Marra. Visit at adnkronos.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
