What’s going on behind the closed gilded doors of Buckingham Palace? The whole world wants to know, so unsurprisingly everyone is keeping an eager eye on the status of what could be the first indicator that something is up: the Union Flag that flies atop the royal residence.
On March 17, reports that an “extremely important” announcement from the Palace was about to be fed to the press gained global attention, leaving many to jump to the conclusion that some tragic news about King Charles III — who was announced to be diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer earlier this year — was on the horizon. Sure enough, these fears intensified when it started spreading around on social media that the Palace’s Union Flag was flying at half-mast.
Despite the long history of the monarchy this is actually a recent development. Traditionally, the Union Flag would only fly, at full mast, if the reigning monarch was in residence at the Palace. When Princess Diana died in 1997, Queen Elizabeth II was staying at Balmoral, another of her residences, so the flag was not flying. This caused a public outcry from those who felt the Palace was snubbing the much-missed princess’ death. Presumably, these people were unaware that the Palace’s flag flying at half-mast upon a Royal death was simply not a done thing.
However, Queen Elizabeth II decreed to break with tradition and the Union Flag was flown at half-mast to honor Diana’s passing. Since then, this has become the norm after all, with the flag flying at half-mast upon every subsequent death of a major Royal. e.g. Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother in 2002, Prince Philip in 2021, and of course the late Queen herself in 2022.
The important thing to note, though? The Union Flag above Buckingham Palace is NOT flying at half-mast, as of March 18. Various live shots from outside the Palace prove that the photo going viral is clearly out of date and the flag is flying at its usual full mast at present. i.e. the Royal family is not in mourning and, as far as we know, the King and the rest of his relatives are doing fine.
As it happens, Buckingham Palace is not being used as the main residence for King Charles III anyway as the historic abode is undergoing a massive refurbishment estimated to cost £369 million and last for about 10 years. The king, along with Queen Consort Camilla (who’s now back from her solo vacation), reside at Clarence House, another Royal home in London.