CBS News Made a Huge Blunder About King Charles and Soon Deleted the Original Post

In the age of push alerts and post-now-edit-later urgency, social media blunders are sometimes part of the publishing process. Even after the mistake gets fixed and a correction follows, netizens have already taken a screenshot. Unfortunately, King Charles found himself at the center of one such blip when CBS News mistakenly referred to him as King Charles II rather than King Charles III. The problem? King Charles II has been deceased for three centuries.

In a since-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), CBS News shared, "King Charles II has indicated that the British royal family would cooperate if police come asking questions about his younger brother, the former Prince Andrew's ties to Jeffrey Epstein." After royal watchers flooded the comments poking fun at the blunder, they soon followed up with an editor's note, which read, "A previous version of this post erroneously referred to King Charles II. It has been corrected and the original post deleted."

The real King Charles II reigned from 1660 to 1685 in England, Scotland, and Ireland, passing away on February 6, 1685, after converting to Catholicism on his deathbed.

As reported by the Royal Insider, after CBS posted, then deleted, the mix-up left royal fans with a lot to say. A netizen mocked, "Didn't expect our late king, Charles II, to have an opinion on the Epstein scandal. But fair play to him for getting in touch and to CBS News for securing the interview." UK commentator Rupert Myers also joined in on the fun and quipped, "The BBC's official US broadcast partner is now doing journalism by ouija board (Charles II died in 1685)." Another penned, "Darn. I thought the Restoration King was restored."

Interestingly, Charles isn't the only royal family member who has been the subject of a social media error. Princess Anne was also a victim of it. As reported by Royal Central, on August 11, 2025, the royal family website had mentioned in a quiz that she was a stepmother to two nonexistent people, Tom and Amy Laurence. Royal watchers were left scratching their heads, as Anne's husband, Sir Timothy Lawrence, is not known to have been married or to have had any children before his union with her.