French broadcaster apologises after publishing obituaries of the Queen and Pele

Radio France Internationale blames error on ‘technical problem’ that ‘resulted in the publication of numerous obituaries on our site’

‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated’: Mark Twain’s famous words may have echoed around Windsor Castle today (WireImage)

A French public radio broadcaster has apologised after mistakenly publishing the obituaries of high profile figures who are still alive – including the Queen and footballer Pele.

Radio France Internationale blamed the error on a “technical problem” that “resulted in the publication of numerous obituaries on our site”.

RFI said it “apologised to the people concerned as well as to you who follow us and trust us”.

Under the headline “England loses its Queen: Elizabeth II left her mark on the imagination”, the obituary stated that “as tradition dictates, it is from the Palace of Saint James in London that a member of the British Court announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II, a historical figure in international life”.

Among the other individuals to have their obituaries published was the 87-year-old president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, and Brazilian footballer Pele.

Some responded to the mistake by complaining that RFI had prepared obituaries for people who had not yet died, which is standard practice across newspapers and websites.

Others joked that it was a “bug” in the system that had quite literally killed.

Mistakenly publishing an obituary ahead of time is an error not as uncommon as media organisations would wish.

In 2014, People magazine published an obituary for Kirk Douglas under the headline: “DO NOT PUB Kirk Douglas Dies”.

The piece was swiftly removed from the website, but not before it had been read and shared widely.

Reuters made a similar mistake when in 2013 it ran an obituary of financier George Soros, with the intro: “George Soros, who died XXX at age XXX…”

The news agency was quick to retract the article, writing: “Reuters erroneously published an advance obituary of financier and philanthropist George Soros. A spokesman for Soros said that the New York-based financier is alive and well. Reuters regrets the error.”

In 2008, Bloomberg published an article claiming Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had died, three years before his actual death in 2011.

And in perhaps the biggest and most embarrassing case of premature obituaries, CNN made the entirety of its stock available on its website in 2003, many of which were unfinished, incorrect and copied and pasted from other well known figures.

Dick Cheney was described as “the UK's favourite grandmother” in his obituary, which was placed in a template for the Queen Mother.

Fidel Castro’s obituary borrowed from Ronald Reagan with a description of the former Cuban leader as a “lifeguard, athlete, movie star”.