Error in death announcement of King Charles by radio station leads to panic
An English radio station sent listeners into a frenzy of grief after a catastrophic technical blunder accidentally announced that King Charles III had died. RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The horrific mistake was acknowledged by Radio Caroline, which blamed a “computer error” for the premature news that the 77-year-old monarch, who is battling cancer, was dead.
The outlet revealed on a Facebook after that a computer glitch accidentally triggered the royal emergency broadcast procedure they have on hand.
“Due to a computer error in our main studio, the Death of a Monarch procedure, which all UK stations keep ready in the hope of not needing it, was accidentally activated on Tuesday afternoon (May 19), incorrectly announcing that HM the King had died,” said a statement from Radio Caroline about the embarrassing incident.
The post then explained that the two main full-time channels, which broadcast across much of England, went silent to mourn the king, as required by British broadcasters on the death of a monarch, after the pre-recorded message.
The dead air alerted radio operators to what had happened, as they quickly restored programming and issued an on-air apology for the terrible mistake.
Radio Caroline said they were “pleased to broadcast the Christmas message from Her Majesty The Queen and now the King, and we hope to continue to do so for many years to come”, in the hope of restoring trust with the Royal Family and apologized to Charles “and to our listeners for any inconvenience caused”, in the post from station manager Peter Moore.
Listeners responded in the comments with mixed reactions.
“It was a shock, but after I told my wife and neighbors I realized it was a mistake, and maybe it was the relief, but then the laughter started,” one man wrote.
A second said: “I heard this on my car radio yesterday as I was getting home from work and for a moment I had to wonder if it was true or just a sick joke. Luckily it was neither, just a simple technical error.”
‘I heard this while I was working in our garage. I ran inside and shouted at the woman, ‘He’s dead! Charlie’s fucking dead!’ She looked surprised and said, ‘Well, he was just at the flower show yesterday,'” a third listener noted, explaining that they had gone online to find out the tragedy had not happened.
“It shocked me a bit, but I accept that these mistakes can happen and I was happy when I found out it wasn’t true,” a fourth person said.
In a clip published by The TelegraphRadio Caroline played the song 4 Non Blondes What is when the music suddenly stopped and a pre-recorded announcement played.
A male voice was heard telling listeners: “This is Radio Caroline. We have suspended our normal programs until further notice as a mark of formal respect following the death of His Majesty King Charles III.”
The voice reiterated the message and the urgency, saying: “This is Radio Caroline. His Majesty King Charles III has passed away. As a mark of respect, we will now play appropriate, continuous music until further notice.”
To make matters worse, the announcement included confirmation of Charles’ death, stating: “The news media have confirmed that His Majesty King Charles III has passed away. As a mark of respect, Radio Caroline is therefore suspending its normal programmes”, followed by the playing of the British national anthem.
The monarch was alive and well on the first day of an unannounced three-day visit to Northern Ireland at the time of the heartbreaking announcement.
