Radio Caroline breaches Ofcom rules after mistakenly announcing King Charles's death

Radio Caroline, a volunteer-led station based off the north-east Essex coast, was found in breach of Ofcom broadcasting rules on 10 August 2026 after accidentally announcing the death of King Charles III during a live broadcast on 19 May. The station aired three pre-recorded announcements falsely stating the King had died, followed by the national anthem and approximately 16 minutes of silence on DAB+, while AM listeners heard backup music. The false announcements claimed the "news media" had "confirmed" the death. A correction and apology was broadcast roughly 30 minutes later.

The incident occurred when a staff member carrying out maintenance accessed pre-recorded obituary files—prepared in advance for the event of the King's death—out of curiosity while using a studio computer. The files were played accidentally, cutting off the remote presenter's stream and broadcasting the announcements live. The presenter, who was streaming the programme from a remote location, did not immediately realise they had gone off air because they were not monitoring their output via an internet monitor at that moment. The station director, who was on a call at the time, only became aware of the issue when he heard continuous music instead of the scheduled programme and contacted the engineer.

Ofcom ruled that the incident breached Rule 5.1, which requires news to be reported with due accuracy, and Rule 5.2, which requires significant mistakes to be corrected quickly on air. The regulator described the false announcement as a "very significant inaccuracy" on a matter of "very high public interest." Ofcom received only two complaints about the broadcast. The station said it "took the matter very seriously" and acted "as soon as possible" given the circumstances.

Radio Caroline confirmed that the staff member responsible has been reprimanded and apologised for the error. The station has since removed the pre-recorded obituary files from the studio desktop computer to prevent a recurrence. The station noted it is "100% volunteer-led" without the resources of larger broadcasters. Founded in 1964 as an offshore pirate station broadcasting from a ship, Radio Caroline was shipwrecked off the Kent coast in 1991; many of its presenters now broadcast remotely from various locations.