Many royal admirers were confused to see that Meghan Markle sat on the sidelines for her first Remembrance Day Service on Sunday, Nov. 11. However, the Duchess of Sussex wasn’t actually royally snubbed even though she did not stand with her family members.

During the pensive ceremony honoring the fallen soldiers in World War I, Queen Elizabeth, Kate Middleton, and Camilla Parker Bowles stood together on one balcony. Pregnant Meghan, who was clearly missing from the group of noblewomen, was spotted watching from the balcony of another window outside the Cenotaph War Memorial in London.

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You may be confused, but there is certainly an explanation. Apparently, each of the balcony windows is small, making it nearly impossible to fit more than three or four women on each, People reported. There is also a royal statute called “pecking order.” This is a way for the royal family to arrange themselves. Recalling back to the time when Meghan, 37, made her official Trooping the Colour debut in June, she was placed behind Kate, 36, and Prince William, also 36, on the balcony.

“She was not as prominent perhaps as some people might have expected, but there’s a pecking order,” Joe Little of Majesty magazine revealed. “There was no slight intended, but William being the older, more senior brother would go out [first] with his wife.” Little insisted that Meghan was still in good position. “She was central rather than the alternative of being in the front row and along the balcony to the left or right.”

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While many fans were quick to criticize Meghan’s not-so-center standing arrangement, some came to the Queen’s defense for possibly being the one to place her on the balcony with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s wife, Elke Budenbender. “For the dense people who don’t understand why #MeghanMarkle was on a different balcony is because the Queen trusted her to stand by Germany’s president’s wife,” @Rosemur89 said on Twitter. “This hasn’t happened in 100yrs. Not many people r good at handling dignitaries. The Queen knows exactly what she’s doing.”

“She could have stood on the other balcony with Princess Anne’s husband and Sophie, but she was trusted to stand with the German President’s wife instead,” @klue247 agreed. Whether it was planned this way or not, Meghan standing alongside Budenbender was a great choice considering the Duchess could put her college degree in International Relations to good use!
