Jacob Rothschild died three days after two black horses were seen in a video clip with a ‘captured’ white horse and a black flag outside Buckingham Palace.
The footage is not related to the death of Lord Jacob Rothschild. The manoeuvre in the video by the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is to change from a ‘Long Guard’ to a ‘Short Guard’ to mark King Charles III being away from Buckingham Palace.
A display of guards for King Charles has been falsely connected to the death of the financier Jacob Rothschild in several social media posts.
Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) posts either share a video, or describe footage of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, in which three riders made up of two black horses and one white horse, carrying what appears to be a furled black flag, ride through central London.
One caption says: “Jacob Rothschild died just three days after two black horses were spotted with a ‘captured’ white horse and a Black Flag outside Buckingham Palace. ARE YOU BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND THE END OF THE CABAL?!? [sic].”
Lord Jacob Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild banking family, died aged 87 at the end of February.
Full Fact has previously written about inaccurate claims regarding the Rothschild family, who are a common subject of conspiracy theories.
And this claim that the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment were carrying a black flag in connection to Mr Rothschild is also untrue.
The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment are the monarch’s ‘trusted guardians’. They are the ceremonial face of the Household Cavalry Regiment and carry out duties from Hyde Park Barracks in London.
Reuters reported a statement from the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which Full Fact has confirmed, which said that the manoeuvre in the video was not linked to the death of Lord Rothschild. Reuters say this took place after King Charles III left Buckingham Palace on 23 February.
The covered flag being carried by the riders was the Royal Standard which is flown only when the King is in residence in one of the royal palaces, and when he is not present the Union flag is flown. This is also stated in the commentary of a longer version of the video on YouTube.
The MOD said the three horses were conducting a ‘make down’, an administrative move carried out when the King has left London and the King’s Life Guard at Horse Guards reverts from being a ‘Long Guard’ to a ‘Short Guard’.
A ‘Long Guard’ is in place when the King is in residence at Buckingham Palace, and made up of an Officer, a Corporal Major, who carries the Royal Standard, two non-commissioned officers, a trumpeter and ten troopers from the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
When the King is away from Buckingham Palace it changes to a ‘Short Guard’ without the officer, corporal major or trumpeter.
The “white horse”, rather than being “captured” as claimed in the video, is the trumpeter’s horse—technically known as ‘grey’. Traditionally this is to contrast with the black horses used by other Household Cavarlymen to enable them to be seen by commanders on battlefields.
Misleading and miscaptioned videos can circulate quickly on social media and further the spread of misinformation. Our guide on how to verify videos can help check whether what is being shared is genuine.
Image courtesy of Michael Garnett
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 false because the manoeuvre in the video by the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is to change from a ‘Long Guard’ to a ‘Short Guard’ to mark King Charles III being away from Buckingham Palace, and is unrelated to the death of Lord Jacob Rothschild.
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