A former British pirate radio station has apologised for accidentally announcing the death of King Charles III due to a computer error at its studio.

Radio Caroline issued the erroneous announcement on Tuesday afternoon following a technical malfunction at its main studio in Maldon, Essex. The error inadvertently triggered the death of a monarch procedure which all UK stations hold in readiness.

Station manager Peter Moore said the error activated the protocol “which all UK stations hold in readiness while hoping not to require”.

“Radio Caroline then fell silent as would be required, which alerted us to restore programming and issue an on-air apology,” Moore said in a statement posted on Facebook.

The mishap occurred whilst Charles and Queen Camilla were in Northern Ireland, where they joined a performance with an Irish folk group.

Moore said the station has been pleased to broadcast the Queen’s and now the King’s Christmas message and hoped to do so for many years to come.

“We apologise to His Majesty the King and to our listeners for any distress caused,” he added.

The domestic Press Association news agency reported that by Wednesday afternoon, playback for Tuesday’s broadcast between 13:58 and 17:00 was unavailable on the station’s website. The station did not confirm how long it took to discover the mistake.

Established in 1964 to challenge the BBC’s broadcasting monopoly, Radio Caroline previously operated from ships off the English coast. After legislation in 1967 forced many pirate broadcasters to close, it continued intermittently before ending offshore broadcasts in 1990.

Caroline and other similar pirate stations inspired the 2009 comedy film “The Boat that Rocked” starring Bill Nighy and Philip Seymour Hoffman about a group of eccentric DJs living and working together at sea.

ALSO READ: King Charles III to address Britain on cancer battle in televised message