What was claimed
The Grenadier Guards’ band played the ‘Imperial March’ during Donald Trump’s state visit.
Our verdict
They did not play the song. It was edited over actual footage of the band playing a selection of US military anthems.
The ‘Imperial March’ was not played to Donald Trump during his UK state visit
4 June 2019
A video claiming to show the band of the Grenadier Guards playing the ‘Imperial March’ during President Trump’s official welcome at Buckingham Palace has been shared hundreds of times on social media.
However, while the video footage is real and from his June 2019 visit, the theme, commonly associated with Star Wars villain Darth Vader, was not played and was edited into the viral clip. The audio of the 'Imperial March' seems to have been taken from a recording of the tune being played outside Buckingham Palace posted in 2006.
As noted by Snopes, Mr Trump was actually played a medley of US military anthems. The actual music replaced from the viral clip was ‘Anchors Aweigh’. You can see the original footage here or watch the full performance here.
This is not the first time a visit from Mr Trump has been linked to the Star Wars music. In 2018 a recording of the theme was also added to a video of the President and Prime Minister Theresa May.