How Queen Elizabeth II broke royal protocol after 9/11 and moved a grieving America by playing the Star-Spangled Banner outside Buckingham Palace
Twenty-five years ago, two days after the 9/11 attacks, Queen Elizabeth II broke centuries of royal protocol by ordering the Star-Spangled Banner to be played during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, a symbolic gesture of solidarity with a grieving America. Custom had held that a foreign anthem should only be played during state visits, but thousands of onlookers, many wrapped in American flags and in tears, gathered to witness the tribute, which was followed by a two-minute silence.
The Coldstream Guards band, in traditional bearskin hats, performed the anthem during a 45-minute service before playing further American pieces including "Amazing Grace" and "Hymn to the Fallen". Three days later, at a memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral, the Queen again broke with tradition by singing along to the anthem and shedding a tear, later telling Americans that "grief is the price we pay for love". She went on to visit the World Trade Center site in 2010 and had the anthem played again at Windsor Castle for the 20th anniversary in 2021, with the tradition repeated once more this year to mark the 25th anniversary.
- Queen broke 600-year protocol, had US anthem played after 9/11
- Thousands gathered in tears outside Buckingham Palace
- She later sang the anthem at St Paul's and visited Ground Zero in 2010
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Twenty-five years ago, in September 2001, the September 11 attacks in the United States killed nearly 3,000 people and left the country in shock. In the days that followed, world leaders looked for ways to show solidarity with America, and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, then head of state, made a personal gesture that stood out because it broke with long-standing royal custom.
Buckingham Palace's Changing of the Guard is a long-running ceremonial tradition in London, normally featuring British military music rather than foreign anthems, which are usually reserved for official state visits by other countries' leaders. The Queen's decision to have the American national anthem played there instead, alongside later gestures such as singing along at a memorial service, was widely seen as an unusual and heartfelt departure from protocol rather than a political statement.
This story matters because it is being revisited now, 25 years on, as part of wider commemorations of the 9/11 anniversary, and because it reflects the close historical relationship between Britain and the United States, often described as the "special relationship." The Queen, who died in 2022 after 70 years on the throne, is remembered here for a personal act of comfort during a moment of shared grief between the two nations.