With black armbands King Charles makes amends for palace's tone-deaf action

King Charles and other senior royals wore black armbands at the "Trooping the Colour" military parade on Saturday as a mark of respect for the victims of the Air India plane crash.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India, on Thursday, killing at least 270 people in the worst aviation disaster in a decade. More than 50 Britons were also killed in the crash.

Only one of the 242 passengers and crew on board survived, while others were killed as the plane struck a medical college's hostel as it came down.

A minute's silence was held after the king inspected the parade, which marks his official birthday.

King Charles requested the changes "as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy", a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said.

The gesture came two days after the tragedy which the king said left him desperately shocked.

The King and wife, Queen Camilla, expressed deep sorrow and grief in their joint statement issued hours after the plane crash on Thursday.

A few hours after the palace issued the royal couple's statement on the plane crash, King Charles attended an event at St James's Palace to celebrate the work of The King's Foundation, a charity founded by the monarch.

The king was spotted sharing laughs with celebrities like Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep, and David Beckham during the event.

The event was an annual opportunity to recognize the achievements of the charity's students, graduates, and partners.

However, the palace's communications team seemed to overlook the impact of optics, releasing a video of the king's lighthearted moments at the event, which some found insensitive given the recent tragedy.