Aug. 16, 2026

Radio Station Accidentally Announces King Charles Is Dead (He Isn't)

Show Notes
Transcript

A British radio station has been found in breach of broadcasting rules after accidentally airing a prerecorded announcement claiming King Charles had died — followed by the national anthem and sixteen minutes of silence. The explanation somehow gets even stranger. Plus, Charles donates an entire field of wheat from Sandringham to a British milliner, Princess Anne goes full tartan ahead of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and we take a deep dive into King Charles’s extraordinary collection of royal tartans and kilts.

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Palace Intrigue is a daily British royal family podcast covering King Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and the House of Windsor. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.

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A calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallas Intrigue.

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I am your host, Mark Francis. A British radio station

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has been found in breach of broadcasting rules after accidentally

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announcing that King Charles had died and to be clear,

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he has not, and the explanation for how the broadcast

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happened is pretty remarkable. Radio Caroline, the famous former pirate

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station that now primarily broadcasts rock music, mistakenly aired a

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pre recorded announcement of the King's death during a broadcast

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in May. Listeners suddenly heard a message saying we have

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suspended our normal programs until further notice as a mark

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of respect following the passing of His Majesty King Charles

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the Third. The station then played the national anthem and

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then silence For approximately sixteen minutes. Nothing was broadcast before

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Radio Caroline a ventures They returned to its regular programming,

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but it took another thirty minutes from the original announcement

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before the presenter apologized and explained that the King had

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not in fact died. Now Britain's broadcasting regulator ofcom has

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ruled that Radio Caroline violated broadcasting standards because of both

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the seriousness of the inaccurate report and the amount of

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time it took the station to correct it. And according

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to Radio Caroline, the entire thing began with someone getting curious.

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The station explained that it had pre recorded audio files

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stored on a studio computer so they would be ready

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in the event of the King's death. While performing maintenance

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on that computer, a staff member apparently discovered the files

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and decided to play them out of curiosity. Unfortunately, they

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didn't just play inside the studio. Playing the files interrupted

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a program being streamed from a presenter working remotely and

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sent the King Charles's death announcement directly over the air.

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And then things got even stranger into Ovcom's report. Once

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the staff member realized what they had done, the person

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panicked and left the premises. Meanwhile, the remote presenter apparently

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had no idea any of this was happening. People at

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the station tried calling the presenter, but the presenter wasn't

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actively monitoring the phone and didn't immediately respond. The incident

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breached two broadcasting requirements that news be recorded with due

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accuracy and impartiality, and that significant mistakes be acknowledged and

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corrected promptly and Perhaps most importantly, the station says those

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pre recorded King Charles death announcements have now been removed

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from the studio computer. King Charles has donated an entire

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field of wheat from his Sandringham estate to a British

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hat designer struggling to find the traditional straw she needs

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because of poor harvest and extreme summer weather. The unusual

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royal gift went to miliner Emily Hurst, who trained at

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Igrove and specializes in working with heritage materials. Hurst had

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told the King that she was having difficulty sourcing Maris Widgeon,

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a traditional British for variety of wheat particularly valued by

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Milliner's for its straw. Charles apparently decided he could help.

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The King has now Givenhurst an entire field of the

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crop growing on his Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Hurst told

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BBC Radio four, We've got a whole field's worth here.

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I could potentially create hundreds of hats from this. It's

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quite hard to imagine. If I'm honested, it's still quite surreal.

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It's still sinking in. There was already a connection between

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Hurst and the King's charitable work. She previously received a

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ten thousand pound bursary from Ascot Racecourse through a Chanel

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and King's Foundation Fellowship. Her limited addition straw Advisors have

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also been sold through the High Grove Shop, with proceeds

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benefiting the King's Foundation Well Palace. Just a moment, Princess

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Anne brought a distinctly Scottish look to one of her

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latest engagements, wearing a tartan skirt as she visited preparations

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for the Royal Edinburgh Military tat Too. The Princess Royal

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attended it rehearsal at Redford's Barracks in Edinburgh, where she

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met military personnel, performers and members of the production team

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ahead of the tattoos opening night, and were repleated tartan

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skirt in shades of red, blue and green, paired with

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a cream jacket and light blue shirt. The tattoo itself

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dates back to nineteen fifty and has become one of

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the signature events of the Scottish summer. Each August, military bands, pipers,

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drummers and performers from around the world gather at Edinburgh

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Castle for the elaborate nightly production. This year's theme is

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a Call to Gather, with more than eight hundred performers

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taking part. The performance has run through August twenty ninth

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against the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. King Charles has spent

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a lifetime wearing kilts. In his collection tells a surprisingly

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detailed story about his relationship with Scotland. Charles has been

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photographed in tartan since childhood and regularly wears kilts during

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the royal family's summer stays at Balmoral, at Highland Games

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and during official engagements in Scotland. And now he even

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has a tartan bearing his own name, The King Charles.

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The third tartan was created in twenty twenty three to

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mark Charles's coronation. The green, blue and red design was

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developed by the Scottish Tartans Authority and woven in Scotland

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by Locaran of Scotland. Charles was involved in the design

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process and personally selected the final pattern. The tartan takes

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inspiration from the historic bal Moral tartan and incorporates a

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distinctive triple stripe found in several other royal patterns. Its

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colours were matched to natural dire samples dating from the

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eighteenth century. Charles debuted his personal tartan at the Brainer

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Gathering in September twenty twenty three. Before becoming King, Charles

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also regularly wore tartans associated with the Scottish titles traditionally

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held by their heir to the throne. One was the

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Duke of Rothsey Tartan. Charles held that title in Scotland

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while he was Prince of Wales. The title now belongs

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to Prince William. The Duke of Rothsey tartan dates back

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to the early nineteenth century and features a dark blue

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bass crossed with green, red and yellow. Charles wore both

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the ste and a design and a more muted hunting

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version during his decades as Air. Another is the Lord

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of the Isles Tartan. The Lord of the Isles title

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has a much older history, originally belonging to the Chiefs

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of clam Donald before eventually becoming associated with the heir

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to the British throne. Charles wore versions of that tartan

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at Scottish events throughout his years as Prince of Wales.

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Then there is perhaps the most recognizable royal pattern of

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all Royal Stuart. The bright red tartan has been associated

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with the royal family since Queen Victoria's reign and was

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reportedly a favorite of Queen Elizabeth. The second Charles, however,

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doesn't wear it nearly as frequently as his mother did.

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His tastes generally lean toward tartans dominated by greens, blues,

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and grays. Unlike some royal tartans, Royal Stewart can be

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worn by anyone. Charles also wears the Stuart Hunting tartan,

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a more subdued pattern designed around the greens and browns

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traditionally associated with outdoor clothing. Queen Elizabeth reportedly favored Stuart

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Hunting for informal occasions, and Charles wore the pattern at

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twenty twenty six my Highland Games, but one tartan in

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the King's wardrobe is considerably more exclusive. The bow Moral

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tartan is reserved for the royal family and the sovereigns

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pipers at Bow Moral. Members of the public are not

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permitted to wear it, and it isn't supposed to be

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commercially reproduced. The pattern is traditionally credited to Prince Albert,

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who is said to have designed it around the early

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eighteen fifties, taking inspiration from the gray granite landscape surrounding

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Bow Moral. Historians of questioned whether Albert actually originated the design,

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but its association with the royal family stretches back to

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Queen Victoria. Charles has worn bow Moral Tartan throughout his life.

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He was photographed wearing it alongside Princess Diana at the

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Bramer Highland Games in nineteen eighty two. Fifteen years later,

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he wore it while holding Prince Harry's hand as father

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and son viewed flowers left at Balmoral following Diana's death.

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And there you have everything you wanted to know about Tartan,

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and they have it. If you like to, email us

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addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. If you're

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on Apple, hit that button up there that says listen

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uninterrupted and get the show commercial free for just five

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bucks a month. We appreciate your support immensely. I'm Mark Francis.

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My thanks to you. John McDermott. This is Palace Intriguing.

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Good turn.

Radio Station Accidentally Announces King Charles Is Dead (He Isn't)

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