Could Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have chosen to sit next to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, during the Festival of Remembrance? Royal fans could not help but notice that the royal foursome, once dubbed as the Fab Four, were seated far apart from each other during the said official event.
A fan raised this question in the discussion forum Quora. An avid follower of the royal family explained that Prince William and Kate have no choice and are powerless to pick their seats because these have been assigned based on their ranking and precedence in the royal family.
As from what can be observed of the seating arrangement during the said event, Queen Elizabeth was flanked by her son Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and grandson Prince William. Next to them were their wives, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Kate.
The seating followed the order of ranking in the line of succession. Since Prince Charles is the heir to the throne and would be king one day, he sat to the right of the current monarch. Prince William, on the other hand, is second in line and would be king after Prince Charles, thus he is assigned a premier spot as well, to the left of the Queen.
Prince Harry and Meghan are not the next ones in the direct line of succession since Prince William and Kate's eldest child, Prince George, is also destined to be king as the third in line. Meanwhile, their other children, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis could one day become the rulers of England as the fourth and fifth in line to the throne.
Hence, the Sussexes are further down the order of precedence and line of succession. So, in most official royal events, Prince Harry and Meghan will always be assigned further away from Prince William and Kate and the latter have no choice but to be literally distant from the Sussexes.
Meanwhile, despite their perceived rift, Prince William and Kate recently acknowledged Prince Harry and Meghan in their message for Shout, the crisis text helpline they helped launched last May. In a post on the Kensington Royal Instagram, the Cambridge couple said that they couldn't be more proud of Shout's accomplishments, and that they also speak for Prince Harry and Meghan in their congratulatory message.
Workers of the crisis text hotline revealed that Prince William, Kate, Prince Harry and Meghan actually often secretly visit the Shout headquarters without the presence of the media. According to founder Nancy Lublin, the four royals do take their roles as patrons of Shout seriously and are always keen on learning how they do things.
