Beauty Wellness Food Family Fashion PureWow100 Gift Guide
All Topics
recipes home entertainment news travel books money pets cultures tech weddings stories new york miami dallas los angeles hamptons chicago
Podcasts The Coterie
Social

© 2010-2021 Wow Media Products, Inc doing business as PureWow. All rights reserved.
news

The Hidden Meaning Behind the Queen’s Latest Social Media Update

By: Greta Heggeness
Published: April 26, 2021

It’s no secret that Queen Elizabeth just updated the royal family’s official Instagram photo…again. But did you know there’s a heartbreaking meaning behind the new image?

It all started earlier this month when the British royals announced that Prince Philip had passed away at age 99. (Still not over it.) Shortly after the news broke, the entire family—including the monarch—gave their social media pages a temporary makeover, displaying a black-and-white picture of the queen’s coat of arms as the avatar (or in the case of Kate Middleton and Prince William, their personal cypher).

Instagram/theroyalfamily

Now that Her Majesty’s eight-day mourning period has concluded, the photo on her page has been updated to feature a close-up shot of Queen Elizabeth (see above). It was taken back in February 2020 during a visit to the MI5 headquarters at Thames House.

The change is bittersweet, since the original picture (see below) featured a cameo by Prince Philip in the background.

Instagram/theroyalfamily

We aren’t the only ones who noticed the image swap. “Lovely picture, but a sad reason for change,” one person wrote, according to Hello! magazine. Another follower added, “Very beautiful pic, very beautiful Queen, but…so sad, so sad.”

We understand why the queen’s social media team would make such an update. However, we feel like Her Majesty could use a really big hug.

Stay up-to-date on every breaking royal family story by subscribing here.

Love Prince William & Kate Middleton? Listen to ‘Royally Obsessed,’ the Podcast for People Who Can’t Get Enough of the British Royal Family

Greta Heggeness

Senior Editor

Greta Heggeness is a California-based editor at PureWow and has been writing about entertainment since 2015. She covers everything from awards shows to exclusive celebrity...
read full bio

Why You Should Trust Us

PureWow's editors and writers have spent more than a decade shopping online, digging through sales and putting our home goods, beauty finds, wellness picks and more through the wringer—all to help you determine which are actually worth your hard-earned cash. From our PureWow100 series (where we rank items on a 100-point scale) to our painstakingly curated lists of fashion, beauty, cooking, home and family picks, you can trust that our recommendations have been thoroughly vetted for function, aesthetics and innovation. Whether you're looking for travel-size hair dryers you can take on-the-go or women’s walking shoes that won’t hurt your feet, we’ve got you covered.