British radio station Radio Caroline has publicly apologised to its listeners “for the upset caused” as it mistakenly announced that King Charles had died. The station attributed the error to a “computer error”.
Radio Caroline, which broadcasts in the Midlands and the south of England, announced the death of King Charles on Tuesday (19.05.2026), a listener reported on social media. According to his description, the regular programme was suddenly interrupted and the presenters announced that the stream was being broadcast on an emergency basis due to the death of King Charles, followed by the playing of the national anthem “God Save the King”. Silence followed for about 15 minutes before the presenters returned to the air and apologised.
The mistake was attributed to a “computer error”, with station manager Peter Moore issuing a statement about what happened.
In a post on the station’s Facebook page, Moore wrote:
“Due to a computer error in our main studio, the Death of a Monarch protocol, which all British stations keep on standby in the hope that it will never have to be used, was accidentally activated. So on Tuesday afternoon (19 May) an announcement was mistakenly broadcast that His Majesty the King had passed away. Radio Caroline stopped broadcasting, as per procedure, which alerted us so that we could restore the programme and apologise on air.
Radio Caroline was honoured to broadcast the Queen’s and now the King’s Christmas Message and we hope to continue to do so for many years to come. We apologise to Her Majesty and to our listeners for the inconvenience caused.”
Below the post, many listeners expressed relief that the news was not true, while others expressed their sympathy for the producers who were unwittingly at the centre of the mistake.
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