On October 12, 2018, the bells of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle rang out for Princess Eugenie and her fiancé Jack Brooksbank. Some 850 guests had been invited to the union, including actress Demi Moore, singers Robbie Williams and James Blunt and a few famous ex-boyfriends.
The rows of the royal box, closest to the altar, were lined with Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, and Prince Charles, alone as his wife Camilla was unable to attend. Then came Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – who had said “I do” in the same place five months earlier. In front of the “fab four” sat the bride’s parents, Prince Andrew, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and Eugenie’s sister, Princess Beatrice.
Princess Eugenie under the Queen’s eye
No one was seated to the right of the Duke of York. This seat had not been left empty because a guest had withdrawn, or even as a tribute to someone who had passed away. It was simply a matter of protocol. And with good reason: it was forbidden for anyone to sit in front of the Queen, who had to be able to enjoy a completely unobstructed view at all times. Thus, Elizabeth II, relatively petite, was able to witness the exchange of vows between her granddaughter – to whom she was very close – and her fiancé without a hitch. In fact, Queen Elizabeth II consciously avoided this seat, which she abhorred because of its uncomfortable seating, reports the Daily Mail.
It was for this reason, and not as a tribute to the memory of Princess Diana, that this same chair welcomed no guests at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. And it was always in the second row, dark and alone, that Queen Elizabeth II attended her husband’s funeral in 2021, deprived of her loved ones due to the pandemic. Seventeen months later, her son took her place for a final farewell. Once again, there was an empty chair in front of the sovereign.