Princess Diana’s coffin was draped with the Union Jack, not the Royal Standard, because she was no longer an official member of the royal family. It may have been a matter of protocol. It may also have been the final official decision the institution ever made regarding her.
The Royal Standard — the flag of the sovereign, traditionally used to cover the coffins of members of the royal family at state funerals — was not placed over her coffin. She had lost her HRH title in August 1996, when her divorce from Charles became final. Under the strict interpretation of royal protocol, she was no longer entitled to the Standard.
Instead, a Union Jack was obtained and placed over her coffin.
Those who have written about the decision — and it was a decision, taken by someone in the days between her death and the funeral — have interpreted it in different ways. Some have argued that it was simply the proper application of protocol following her divorce.
Others have suggested it represented something more deliberate: a final institutional statement about how the Crown regarded her after she had left the royal family.
What is beyond dispute is that the flag covering her coffin was not the one reserved for members of the royal family. She had been the family’s most recognisable figure for fifteen years. The institution’s final formal act toward her was to acknowledge, through the language of flags, that she was no longer part of it.
A gun carriage carried her coffin through the streets of London. Around a million people gathered to pay their respects. The flag covering the coffin was the Union Jack.
The Royal Standard was not used. Protocol was observed. Some decisions may be technically correct, yet in their particular context, they can carry a meaning that goes far beyond procedure.
