A cast member unfurled a Palestine flag during an encore for Il Trovatore at the Royal Opera House on Saturday (19 July), with staff immediately trying to snatch it away. In a video published online, the performer resisted attempts to have the flag removed in what was described by one audience member as “extraordinary scenes”.

The theatre has admonished the performer for holding up the flag, saying that it doesn’t align with its “commitment to political impartiality.”

A cast member unfurls a Palestinian flag during a curtain call, prompting a brief scuffle as an official tried to take it away.