The Real Reason a Radio Station Wrongly Announced King Charles's Death Revealed
An employee’s curious click accidentally aired King Charles’ death protocol by a radio station, triggering a broadcasting violation and social media chaos.
It caused a media uproar in May when British radio station Radio Caroline abruptly interrupted its regular programme to announce the death of King Charles. The famed radio station quickly issued a brief apology to listeners, stating that a computer error triggered its emergency "death of a monarch" protocol. At the time, the king was happily engaged in local activities in Belfast alongside Queen Camilla. Now, new findings have revealed shocking details about the mix-up that sent royal watchers into a social meltdown.
In its latest report, media regulator Ofcom stated that Radio Caroline breached broadcasting protocols. In its Monday, Aug. 10, bulletin, Ofcom highlighted violation of two core codes: "News, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality," and "Significant mistakes in news should normally be acknowledged and corrected on air quickly. Corrections should be appropriately scheduled."
Tracing the chronology of events, People reported that the radio station, which is known for playing mainly music chartbusters from the 1960s onward, reported that The Barry Marsh Show, during which the announcement was made, was being streamed remotely. At that time, a staff member was maintaining a studio computer and discovered three files saved under King Charles’ name. Radio Caroline “explained that these files are accompanied with ‘a set of strict instructions to presenters and managers’ to follow before being aired, but, 'out of curiosity,' the member of staff played the files, which stopped the stream from the presenter’s remote location, and broadcast the files on air,” Ofcom findings noted.
After realizing the mistake, the staffer stopped the broadcast and exited the office. The host, initially unaware of the error during a call, later contacted an engineer, who was already aware and investigating the issue. The station then promptly switched back to regular programming. Ofcom continued to state in its bulletin that Radio Caroline responded swiftly to the situation, emphasizing the seriousness of the matter and the efforts made by its staff during the 30 minutes prior to issuing an on-air apology. The station confirmed to Ofcom that the staffer responsible was reprimanded and had issued an apology. Following the unfortunate incident, the sensitive files are now stored on an external hard drive, and all radio hosts and staff members have been warned to follow established broadcasting procedures.
Meanwhile, during the airing of the announcement, the radio station had also claimed that “news media” confirmed King Charles had passed away, followed by the national anthem and about 16 minutes of silence, according to Ofcom’s report. Later, the host apologized to listeners about 30 minutes after the statements aired, confirming the monarch was not dead. “I’ve just been informed that we’ve played in error some information a little earlier. I didn’t hear this myself, but it is incorrect; it’s a technical issue, and of course we apologize,” the host said. King Charles is currently on his annual break at Balmoral as he continues his cancer treatment.
