Curious employee triggers accidental broadcast of King Charles death report
A Radio Caroline staffer accidentally aired a pre-recorded report on King Charles III’s death, prompting a regulator review and public apology.
At Britain's Radio Caroline, a curious employee accidentally broadcast a pre-recorded report stating that King Charles III had died. The incident occurred in May when the station aired the announcement during a regular program. The report began with an ominous message: "We are suspending our regular programming until further notice in mourning for the death of His Majesty King Charles III," followed by the national anthem and around 16 minutes of silence.
The UK media regulator confirmed that the station had violated broadcasting rules due to the unintended broadcast. Radio Caroline later issued a public apology, clarifying that the pre-recorded report was false and had been played as a result of a technical error. The regulator's investigation revealed that the error occurred when an employee, while performing maintenance on the studio computer, accessed and played the pre-recorded files out of curiosity.
Unaware that the files would be broadcast live, the employee stopped the playback and fled the premises in alarm.
Written by urgent.news from Ajel English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
