Furore over erroneous death announcement of King Charles III

An erroneous death announcement of King Charles III sparked uproar after Radio Caroline in Essex apologised for a misreported death. The Guardian reported on Friday 22 May 2026 that the station mistakenly announced the death of King Charles III due to a computer error. The radio station said an in-studio computer fault activated the ‘Death of the King’ protocol—an emergency procedure prepared by all UK radio stations in the event of the monarch’s death—which was not supposed to be triggered. ‘Because of a computer fault in our main studio, the Death of the King procedure, prepared by all stations across the UK to be used only if necessary, was inadvertently activated on Tuesday 19 May afternoon, falsely announcing that His Majesty the King has died,’ said Radio Caroline manager Peter Moore in a statement posted on Facebook. The live broadcast was halted, and they apologised on air. ‘Radio Caroline then stopped the transmission as it should have been,’ he added. Moore also apologised to the King and to listeners for the confusion. The statement did not detail how long the error remained undiscovered. However, on the afternoon of Wednesday 20 May, the replay of Tuesday’s 13:58–17:00 slot was unavailable on the station’s website. The incident occurred as King Charles and Queen Camilla were on a working visit to Northern Ireland, where they joined a folk group for a performance. Radio Caroline, founded in 1964, is the former pirate radio station that operated from ships off the British coast. After the 1967 Offshore Broadcasting Act forced many pirate stations to close, Radio Caroline continued irregularly before ending offshore broadcasting in 1990. It now operates on land with its main studio in Maldon, Essex.