How Beatrice and Eugenie’s assigned seating at Jubilee event prevented William and Harry photo opportunity

Princess Eugenie and Beatrice's seating arrangements at the Queen's Service of Thanksgiving earlier this month was a 'deliberate' move to prevent Prince William and Prince Harry from being photographed together, a royal expert has claimed.

• Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice's seating arrangements at the Queen's Service of Thanksgiving were designed to prevent Prince Harry and Meghan Markle being pictured with Prince William and Prince Charles, a royal insider has claimed. 
• The royal sisters' positioning in the second row of St. Paul's Cathedral made it near-impossible for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to be snapped in the same photo as the Cambridges or the Prince of Wales.
• In other royal news, Camilla Parker Bowles wears 'beautifully elegant' white dress for Royal Ascot - showing us how to stay stylish in a heatwave.
  

Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice's assigned seating at the Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen was intended to prevent Prince William from being pictured with Prince Harry, according to a royal expert. 

The daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson observed the Platinum Jubilee ceremony from the second row of St. Paul's Cathedral on Friday, June 3, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty's reign. 

They were notably seated next to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, whose attendance at the event marked their first joint public appearance in the UK since their high-profile withdrawal as senior royals in January 2020. Eugenie's husband, Jack Brooksbank, and Beatrice's husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, were also present in the pew. 

Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla were seated in the front row of the historic cathedral, about 20 ft away from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They were joined by Prince William and Kate Middleton, as well as Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence. The Queen was, unfortunately, unable to make the event due to her ongoing mobility issues. 

It's now understood that this distance between the Sussex couple and the upper tiers of the Royal Family was no accident. 

According to royal expert Richard Eden, there were some serious behind-the-scenes discussions to ensure that Meghan and Harry did not appear with Charles and Camilla, or the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in any photos.

"From what I'm told there really was [assigned seating]," he said on the Mail Plus' Palace Confidential, after being asked by host Jo Elvin about the seating arrangements. 

"Why it was, so, Beatrice and Eugenie didn't move, they didn't, sort of, move down the row to let them [Harry and Meghan] in, they stuck to their seats. 

"Why they left there was a procession to leave the cathedral.

"It meant that Harry and Meghan were far behind, they had to wait for everyone else in their row to leave first so they couldn't be photographed." 

As a result of this delay, the Sussexes "weren't in the same shots as Prince Charles or the Cambridges" and were, in fact, "nowhere near them."