A photo of Sir Keir Starmer at Buckingham Palace shows a “democratically elected national leader” kneeling in front of a “hereditary emperor”.
The photo is genuine, but it was taken in 2014, before Mr Starmer was first elected as an MP and a decade before he became Prime Minister. It shows Mr Starmer receiving a knighthood.
An image of Sir Keir Starmer kneeling at Buckingham Palace has been shared widely on social media with a caption implying that it was taken since Labour won the general election on 4 July.
A post on X (formerly Twitter), also shared on Facebook with the same wording, says: “Why does a democratically elected national leader kneel to a hereditary emperor?”
Another post on X includes text on the same photo saying: “Labour Party Leader being sworn in as UKs [sic] Prime Minister by King Charles.”
But the photo in question was actually taken in 2014, when Mr Starmer received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace—ten years before he became Prime Minister. And the man knighting him in the photo, now King Charles, was at the time the Prince of Wales.
Mr Starmer was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath by the then-Prince Charles for his services to law and criminal justice, in recognition for his role as Director of Public Prosecutions, heading up the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales.
He was not an MP at the time, and was first elected in the 2015 general election.
When Mr Starmer met King Charles on 5 July this year as part of the process of formally being appointed Prime Minister under the royal prerogative, the two men were filmed and photographed shaking hands and sitting down together at the start of their audience (a private one-to-one meeting with the monarch).
While Theresa May curtsied when she met the Queen in July 2016 to be appointed Prime Minister, the official Royal website confirms that there are no obligatory greetings. Men may bow their heads and women may do a “small curtsy”, but some people “prefer simply to shake hands”.
We have previously fact checked several misleading images and videos involving King Charles. Misinformation can spread very quickly online, especially in the midst of significant news stories, so it’s important to check that what you’re sharing is legitimate. For tips on how to do this, read our guide to spotting misleading images and videos.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because the photo was taken in 2014, before Sir Keir Starmer was elected as an MP or became Prime Minister, and shows him receiving a knighthood.
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