Radio Caroline has been found in breach of broadcasting regulations after mistakenly announcing the death of King Charles III during a live broadcast.
The incident occurred on May 19 when a pre-recorded “death of the monarch” programme was accidentally triggered while presenter Barry Marsh was hosting a remotely streamed show.
Listeners were told that normal programming had been suspended following the King’s death, before the station played the national anthem and observed roughly 16 minutes of silence.
Ofcom investigated the incident after receiving two complaints and concluded that the station had breached Rules 5.1 and 5.2 of the Broadcasting Code, which require broadcasters to maintain due accuracy in news coverage and take appropriate steps to correct significant errors.
The regulator said the incident was particularly serious because the false report concerned the death of the monarch and was delivered in a way that could reasonably have convinced listeners that the announcement was genuine.
According to Ofcom’s findings, a member of staff at Radio Caroline’s Essex studio accessed the station’s pre-recorded obituary files while carrying out maintenance. The employee reportedly did so out of curiosity and apparently did not realise that activating the material would interrupt the live programme.
The broadcast was stopped once the mistake was discovered, after which normal programming resumed and the station issued an apology to listeners.
Radio Caroline initially attributed the incident to a computer malfunction. Station manager Peter Moore later explained that the station’s “Death of a Monarch” procedure had inadvertently been activated at its main studio.
King Charles was, in fact, alive and carrying out official engagements at the time. He and Queen Camilla were visiting Northern Ireland during a three-day royal tour, with the King continuing his scheduled programme of public appearances.
Radio Caroline, which first went on air in 1964 and became one of Britain’s most famous offshore stations, has since evolved into a licensed broadcaster.
The Ofcom ruling has now turned what the station described as an accidental mishap into a formal broadcasting breach, underscoring the need for strict safeguards when handling highly sensitive pre-recorded material and breaking-news announcements.
