The BBC had to apologise after a radio began playing the national anthem and then joked on air that Queen Elizabeth II has died.
Thirty-nine-year-old Danny Kelly during a live programme on Monday afternoon on BBC WM radio channel, which broadcasts in Birmingham and West Midlands, told up to a quarter of a million listeners that he had some “astonishing news” and then said: “Queen Elizabeth II has now died.” Producer Mark Newman jumped in within seconds, telling him: “You can’t say that.” Mr Kelly said he was talking about a “friend” on his show’s Facebook page who went by the name “Queen Elizabeth II”, but who was no longer on the site, Daily Mail reported on Tuesday. The incident took place when Mr Kelly was half-way through his two-hour afternoon show on the local BBC WM station. Mr Kelly’s remark was “incredibly ill-conceived”, said Vivianne Patterson, chairman of radio and television watchdog Mediawatch, adding: “It’s a bit sick actually. I think because it’s the Queen and they treated it like a big announcement it makes things worse.” “It’s the BBC we are talking about here and there’s a certain expectation from them. The use of the national anthem is a problem here as well.”
The BBC immediately apologised “unreservedly” for the announcement. “We can confirm that Danny Kelly made an inappropriate remark about the Queen during his radio show. Although made as part of a light-hearted piece about social media friends, and corrected on-air immediately, the comment was inappropriate and the BBC apologises for it,” the BBC said. “There was no intention to offend. BBC WM takes this comment very seriously. Action is being taken,” the broadcaster added.