Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may have been seated in such a way to prevent them appearing in photos with other royals during the jubilee celebrations, it has been claimed.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared from a window at Buckingham Palace prior to the RAF flypast during Trooping the Colour last Thursday and the next day at St Paul's cathedral.
However, during the latter event they were placed on the other side of the aisle to other senior members of the Firm, including Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The couples did not appear to acknowledge each other or exchange eye contact.
On Saturday, the Sussexes held a first birthday party for their daughter Lilibet at the same time the Cambridges were visiting Cardiff Castle.
Harry and Meghan quickly jetted off back to the US before the bank holiday celebrations had finished on Sunday.
The Daily Mail 's diary editor Richard Eden has speculated that specific efforts were made to prevent the couple - who stepped down as working royals in 2020 - from appearing with the family.
Speaking on the newspaper's royal talk show Palace Confidential, he said Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie may have been told to stay in their seats at the end of the cathedral service.
This would prevent Harry and Meghan catching up to any senior royals during the leaving procession - and avoided them being in any awkward press photos, he added.
Mr Eden said: "There was a procession to leave the cathedral and 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, they weren't in the same shots as Prince Charles or the Cambridges."
Royal correspondent and author Victoria Murphy also told the programme the seating arrangements would have been "decided in advance".
"It's hard not to look at it as a sign, if not the distance between the brothers – that physical distance between them in that seating plan," she said.
Ms Murphy said there wasn't one photo of William and Harry together from the whole weekend, except wide shots inside St Paul's.
She added it was "quite telling" in terms of the two brothers' relationship at this point when the landmark celebrations could have been a time to put on a united front despite everything.
However, royal biographer Robert Hardman said the Sussexes' low profile over the weekend will have gone "a long way towards normalising their return" to Britain.
