The protocol that saw them demoted

THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have returned to the royal fold for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations – but their seats were a telling sign of their change in status.

Far across the aisle from the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the ever solid Princess Anne, Harry and Meghan sat in the second row, behind the Wessex family and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

Sensibly they were seated next to Harry’s cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and their husbands, with whom the couple remain close. On Meghan’s other side was Lady Sarah Chatto, the Queen’s niece.

There was no chance that the Sussexes could have been put in the front row as those seats were reserved for working royals.

Palace protocol normally ensures individuals are seated in relation to their bloodline and relationship to the Queen. In that case why weren’t Harry and Meghan seated behind Charles and Anne?

The truth is that those responsible for the arrangements knew all too well that any time the cameras homed in for a shot of the main royal party, the Sussexes would have been looking over their shoulders.

This was deemed the most ‘elegant’ solution – and was signed off by the Queen.