If you were one of the millions of viewers paying your respects to the late Duke of Edinburgh this weekend, you may have noticed that the flag at Windsor Castle was not flying at half-mast during Prince Philip's funeral.
Well, there's a very specific reason that, unlike at Buckingham Palace, the flag at Windsor Castle was not flown at half-mast - despite an official statement from the College of Arms requesting that all flags be flown at half-mast until 8:00AM the day after the Prince's funeral.
The funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen's husband of 73 years, took place on Saturday, April 17, at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Official flags are typically flown at half-mast in order to honor a figure of national importance who has died. But despite the UK's national period of mourning, Windsor Castle's flag was not flown at half-staff during the funeral.
According to Chris Ship, host of the Royal Rota podcast, the reason for this is simply because the Queen remains in residence at Windsor Castle.
He added: "But if you go anywhere in the UK at the moment, that's a different story. Every national flag, union flag, will be flying at half-mast. That's until the day after the funeral - that's national mourning."
Furthermore, in a statement by the College of Arms, it instructed that all flags be flown at "half-mast" until 8:00AM the day after the funeral - unless the Queen is present within a building.
Of course, Queen Elizabeth II was present at her husband's funeral at Windsor Castle and so the flag was not flown at half-mast.
The College of Arms state:
"All official flags, including the Union Flag, will be flown at half-mast from now until 08:00 on the day following the funeral. Flags may be flown overnight during this period but should remain at half-mast.
"Official flags in this instance are defined as Union Flags, the national flags of the home nations, ensigns and ships’ colours.
"Any non-official flags flying or due to be flown should be taken down and replaced with a Union Flag flying at half-mast. Official flags scheduled to be flown should be flown as planned but at half-mast.
"Flags will be flown at half-mast during this period, including on days which would otherwise be flag-flying days.
"The only exception is when The Queen is present within a building or its precincts, at which time the Royal Standard will be flown at full mast."
Per the BBC, the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral was watched by more than 13 million viewers in the UK. The ceremony was socially distanced, with the Queen sitting by herself away from others in attendance.
