French radio 'mistakenly' publishes obituaries of Queen Elizabeth, Pelé; issues apology

French public radio station apologised on Monday for publishing false death notices of about 100 celebrities who are very much alive, including Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Brazilian footballer Pelé. Radio France Internationale (RFI) blamed “a technical problem” and apologised for publishing the obituaries on its website and partner platforms including Google, Yahoo! and MSN that were hastily taken down later.

"We offer our apologies to the people concerned and to you who follow and trust us. We are doing all we can to rectify this major bug,” the broadcaster said in a tweet translated from French.  

READ | Britain Plans 4-day 'one-in-a-generation Show' For Queen's Platinum Jubilee Celebration

Apart from the UK Queen, the website published false obituaries of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, former US President Jimmy Carter, Cuban leader Raul Castro, actors Clint Eastwood, Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot—all who are in their 80s and 90s.

Other French nationals whom the RFI declared dead included Bernadette Chirac, wife of the late French president Jacques; former Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin, actors Jean-Louis Trintignant, Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo, director Roman Polanski and fashion designer Pierre Cardin.

READ | You Can Now Rent Queen Elizabeth's Flitcham Hall Property But Cats Not Allowed; Deets Here

False obituary of Queen Elizabeth II 

The death notice of Queen Elizabeth read: “The United Kingdom awoke an orphan this morning. Buckingham Palace officially announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen, who died of Coronavirus, turned 94 on 21 April 2020.

In the case of at least one celebrity, French business mogul turned politician Bernard Tapie, 77, the mistake was not the first. His obituary had been published by other news outlets at least twice before in 2019.

READ | Pele Celebrates 80th Birthday In Isolation At Home Amid A Flood Of Tribute From Fans

READ | Puerto Rico's Renowned Radio Telescopes Could Come Down Tumbling Due To Cable Failures