Flags at Buckingham Palace

The Royal Standard flies over the Palace when the sovereign is in residence. Until 1997 the only flag to fly from Buckingham Palace was the Royal Standard, the official flag of the reigning British sovereign, and only when the sovereign was in residence at the palace. Even in times of mourning, the Union Flag would not fly at half mast. The only time another flag would fly from the Palace would be upon the death of the sovereign, when the flag of the next senior member of the Royal Family would be raised. In 1952, the Standard of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother was raised upon the death of George VI of the United Kingdom because the new sovereign, Elizabeth II, was still in residence at Clarence House.

This tradition changed in 1997, following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, when there was public outrage because the palace did not fly a flag at half mast. The Queen was at Balmoral Castle at the time, so there was no flag flying. In response to this display of public opinion, the Queen ordered a break with protocol and the Union Flag was flown at half mast over the Palace on the day of Diana's funeral. Since then, the Union Flag flies from the Palace when the Queen is not in residence, and has flown at half mast upon the deaths of members of the Royal Family, and other times of national mourning such as following the terrorist bombings in London on 7 July 2005.

The Palace today

Buckingham Palace in 2005. Today, Buckingham Palace is not only the home of the Queen and Prince Philip but also the London residence of Duke of York and the Earl and Countess of Wessex. The palace also houses the office of the monarchy and its associated functions. Compared to other British royal palaces and castles, Buckingham Palace is comparatively new, yet the words "Buckingham Palace" have come to symbolise the British monarchy. At the end of both World War I and World War II vast crowds spontaneously gathered at the palace, as they had at the end of the Second Boer War. An estimated crowd of one million people gathered in London, many in front of the palace, to see the Queen on her Golden Jubilee in June 2002. At the Golden Jubilee concert, guitarist Brian May performed God Save the Queen on the guitar on top of Buckingham Palace.