Cliff Notes – BBC airs ‘clanger’ of a mistake reporting Lady Annabel Goldsmith’s death

The BBC Weekend News mistakenly displayed incorrect dates for Lady Annabel Goldsmith, stating she lived from 2034 to 2025, despite her actual birth date being 11 June 1934.
Viewers quickly highlighted the error on social media, with comments suggesting the mistake implied Lady Goldsmith had travelled through time.
Lady Goldsmith, a prominent socialite and mother of six, passed away at the age of 91, with her death announced over the weekend.

BBC airs ‘clanger’ of a mistake reporting Lady Annabel Goldsmith’s death

The BBC Weekend News, hosted by Reeta Chakrabarti, included an error specifying the dates of Lady Annabel Goldsmith’s life.

Socialite and campaigner, Lady Goldsmith, died aged 91, it was announced on Saturday.

She gave her name to the famous Mayfair nightclub, Annabel’s, which was opened by her first husband in 1963.

Her death was reported on BBC News over the weekend, but viewers spotted a mistake during Saturday evening’s programme.

As Chakrabarti closed the segment on Lady Goldsmith’s death, in which archive footage was used to look back at her life, an image of the heiress appeared next to her name and the supposed dates she had lived.

Lady Goldsmith was born on 11 June 1934, but the dates read ‘2034 – 2025’.

The programme aired incorrect dates alongside their footage (Picture: BBC)

The socialite was a close friend of Princess Diana (Picture: Shutterstock)

Viewers were quick to note the mistake, and comment online.

Colin Young said on X: ‘Someone at BBC News dropped a clanger in the caption for Annabel Goldsmith’s death.’

Others to note the mistake were TV critic Scott Bryan, who wrote: ‘BBC News accidentally implying that Lady Anna Goldsmith travelled through time.’

John Cartwright pointed out that the incorrect dates implied Lady Goldsmith was ‘minus 9’.

Metro understands there was an error on that particular image, but the correct dates were used in wider reporting.

Lady Annabel Goldsmith was a mother to six children, including former conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, and film producer Jemima Khan.

Jemima Khan, daughter of Lady Annabel Goldsmith, is a TV and film producer (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Lady Goldsmith’s son, Zac Goldsmith, ran for Mayor of London in 2016 (Picture: Alan Davidson/Shutterstock)

Zac ran for London Mayor in 2016, but lost to Sadiq Khan.

Lady Goldsmith’s daughter, Jemima, was previously married to international cricketer and former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan.

In a statement to The Times, her youngest son Ben Goldsmith said of his mother: ‘I spoke to her every day for 45 years. She truly had my back and we loved each other very much. I will miss her terribly.’