Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wanted more prominent seats at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations but were forced to back down on the Queen's orders, a royal author has claimed.
The Sussexes came to the UK for the festivities last month but only made one public appearance - at a service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral.
They arrived at the venue alongside other non-working royals including Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and their husbands.
However, they then proceeded to walk solo hand-in-hand down the long nave of the cathedral to take their seats.
They were sat next to Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank, with the couple along with Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi having to awkwardly stand up to let the Sussexes past to reach their seats.
Their seats were not close to Prince Charles and Camilla or Prince William and his wife Kate.
But according to Tom Bower, the author of the new book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, the Sussexes were not happy about their allocated seats in St Paul's and tried to sit closer to the more senior members of the family.
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Speaking on an upcoming episode of the Mirror's Pod Save the Queen podcast, Mr Bower claimed: "I was told, unfortunately too late for the book, they were meant to turn up at Wellington Barracks to get on the coach which was set up for the minor royals to go to St Paul's for the Jubilee service.
"They arrived deliberately late so the bus had gone and they could make a grand entrance from a car so they could be seen on the steps, which Netflix obviously needed.
"And then as they walked down the aisle, they get to the seats in the row they are assigned and I'm told they then asked six other people sitting this side of the aisle could they move down so they could sit on the aisle itself.
"And the usher apparently said to them 'you can't, you're sitting in seats eight or nine' or whatever it was and Harry said 'why?'
"And the usher said 'that's what your grandmother ordered'. I'm told that from a military man."
After the service, the Sussexes skipped a lunch at the Guildhall and they also did not attend the star-studded Party at the Palace on the Saturday night nor the Jubilee Pageant on the Sunday.
And fellow expert and royal editor of Vanity Fair, Katie Nicholl added that she believes Harry and Meghan decided not to be more visible in the Jubilee celebrations because they knew they wouldn’t be in the front row - especially at the Jubilee Pageant.
She previously told True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat show: “I honestly think it’s [because].... they knew that they wouldn’t be in that front row. And why did they leave the Royal Family?
"They left because they weren’t in the front row. I believe that’s why they weren't at the other celebrations as they did not have centre stage seats.”
