--- description: The royal family was not at the palace when the incident occurred title: Man Dies After Setting Himself on Fire Outside Kensington Palace image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c5d0ecaf79532f8/69887cc3f887dc4eede94865/kensington-palace-royals-fire.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [london](/tag/london/) ## london Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Man Dies After Setting Himself on Fire Outside Kensington Palace by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 9, 2016 4:42 PM CUT  Forensics officers in overalls and masks walk by the tent errected over the scene where a man died after being discovered on fire in the park outside the wall of Kensington Palace in London on Feb. 9, 2016. Forensics officers in overalls and masks walk by the tent errected over the scene where a man died after being discovered on fire in the park outside the wall of Kensington Palace in London on Feb. 9, 2016.Leon Neal—AFP/Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 9, 2016 4:42 PM CUT A man died after [setting himself on fire](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/09/europe/man-fire-uk-palace/index.html?sr=twcnni020916man-fire-uk-palace0238PMStoryLink&linkId=21113008 "undefined") outside the London home of Prince William, Kate Middleton and their two children, police say. The 40-year-old man was found ablaze near a garden gate outside Kensington Palace early Tuesday morning, reports CNN. Authorities pronounced him dead at the scene. Officers were called to the palace after reports of a man behaving suspiciously, [according to the BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35533248 "undefined"). The man’s death is not being treated as related to terrorism. The royal family was [not at the palace when the incident occurred](http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/09/man-dies-fire-outside-kensington-palace "undefined"), the _Guardian_ reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4213813/kensington-palace-man-dies-fire/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4213813/kensington-palace-man-dies-fire/"},"headline":"Man Dies After Setting Himself on Fire Outside Kensington Palace","datePublished":"2016-02-09T16:42:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:54:34.177Z","description":"The royal family was not at the palace when the incident occurred","url":"https://time.com/4213813/kensington-palace-man-dies-fire/","keywords":["london"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c5d0ecaf79532f8/69887cc3f887dc4eede94865/kensington-palace-royals-fire.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c5d0ecaf79532f8/69887cc3f887dc4eede94865/kensington-palace-royals-fire.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Forensics officers in overalls and masks walk by the tent errected over the scene where a man died after being discovered on fire in the park outside the wall of Kensington Palace in London on Feb. 9, 2016.","caption":"Forensics officers in overalls and masks walk by the tent errected over the scene where a man died after being discovered on fire in the park outside the wall of Kensington Palace in London on Feb. 9, 2016.","creditText":"Leon Neal—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/london/","name":"london"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4213813/kensington-palace-man-dies-fire/","name":"Man Dies After Setting Himself on Fire Outside Kensington Palace"}}]}] ```