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There was “no snub” aimed at Prince Harry at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and he was seated in the second row because of his age, a source at Buckingham Palace told The Daily Beast Monday evening.
The source sought to quell speculation that Harry and wife Meghan Markle had been seated in the second row as a snub following their estrangement from the family, telling The Daily Beast: “The order was approximately age order but trying not to split families up.” (Harry and Meghan were seated on the front row at the second public funeral service of the day at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.)
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The palace suggested that, apart from Prince William (40) who is now first in line to the throne, other grandchildren of the monarch had been seated in age order, with Peter (44) and Zara (41) being put in the front row ahead of second-row occupants Harry (38), Beatrice (34), and Eugenie (32).
According to the palace, this explains why Harry’s cousins, Princess Anne’s children Zara and Peter, were seated in the front row despite never having been working royals, rather than speculation that Harry being relegated to a less prominent position in response to his and his wife’s attacks on the monarchy.
The couple have accused an unnamed individual in the family of racism and Meghan gave an interview shortly before the queen’s death in which she said they threatened the “hierarchy” of the institution “just by existing,” and appeared to threaten to make more revelations. The palace are also said to be extremely anxious about Harry’s forthcoming memoir.
Harry has apparently suffered several slights since the queen’s death.
He did not travel to Scotland with his brother and uncles when his grandmother was first announced to have been taken ill, was excluded from a dinner with Charles and William on the night of her death, and was banned from wearing military uniform to today’s funeral.
It was also reported that he was only told of the queen’s death five minutes before it was publicly announced.
