A UK radio station apologized after they erroneously announced King Charles’ death

King Charles and Camilla have been undertaking their annual tour of Northern Ireland this week, and I’m including some photos from their visit in this post. They truly do this every spring or early summer – spend about three days in Northern Ireland, check out the local drinks and cuisine, plant a few trees, host a garden party, and do a few walkabouts. It’s been unremarkable this year, although it should be said, Charles will be the last monarch to do any of this. Do you think William will spend three days in Northern Ireland every spring, opening up a castle and glad-handing? No. Come on. The reason why we’re being forced to think about William’s reign (of terror) is because a British radio station wrongly announced Charles’ passing yesterday. Charles isn’t dead, he’s just in Northern Ireland, guys.

A radio station has apologised for “any distress caused” after accidentally announcing that King Charles had died. The erroneous announcement was made on Tuesday afternoon due to a computer error at Radio Caroline’s main studio in Essex.

Station manager Peter Moore wrote on Facebook: “Due to a computer error at our main studio, the Death of a Monarch procedure, which all UK stations hold in readiness while hoping not to require, was accidentally activated on Tuesday afternoon (19 May), mistakenly announcing that HM the King had passed away.

“Radio Caroline then fell silent as would be required, which alerted us to restore programming and issue an on-air apology. Caroline has been pleased to broadcast Her Majesty the Queen’s, and now the king’s, Christmas message and we hope to do so for many years to come. We apologise to HM the king and to our listeners for any distress caused.”

The post did not say how long it was before the mistake was discovered but on Wednesday afternoon, playback for Tuesday’s broadcast between 1.58pm and 5pm was unavailable on the station’s website.

The incident came as the king and queen were in Northern Ireland, where they joined a folk group for a performance. Charles and Camilla also watched dancers and sipped Irish whiskey in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter on the first day of their trip.

[From The Guardian]

This is wild. Even more wild? Radio Caroline interrupted 4 Non Blonde’s “What’s Up” to falsely announce the king’s death. I’m conspiratorial by nature, so I do wonder if this mistake was as innocent as Radio Caroline claims. I’m not saying the conspiracy is about Charles, but I just don’t believe the announcement happened because of a computer glitch. (Also: if this had been real, the Scooter King was in Istanbul, watching football.)

🚨🇬🇧 NEW: The moment Radio Caroline accidentally announced the death of King Charles live on air

King Charles has not passed away pic.twitter.com/RpBzoCmcFa

— Politics Global (@PolitlcsGlobal) May 20, 2026

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.