Royal Family
An empty seat in front of Queen Elizabeth II was left empty during Princess Eugenie's wedding. Pictured: Royal family during their wedding ceremony at St. George's Chapel on October 12, 2018 in Windsor, England. Getty Images/Owen Humphreys-WPA Pool

Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank left an empty seat inside St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle during their wedding day on Friday.

The empty seat is also seen in front of Queen Elizabeth II, who was sitting by the aisle and beside her husband, Prince Philip. Becky Pemberton and Sarah Barns, journalists for The Sun, said that one of the seats was left vacant due to a royal protocol.

It has been revealed that no one is allowed to sit in front of the Queen during special occasions such as weddings. The Queen doesn’t normally sit in the front row and opts to sit on the second row so that she can see the witness the entire ceremony clearly.

On Princess Eugenie’s wedding day, it was Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, and Princess Beatrice that sat in the front row since they are the immediate family members of the bride. The Queen was accompanied by Prince Charles, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle in the second row.

Earlier this year, Prince Harry and Markle also left an empty seat in front of the Queen during their wedding at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Royal fans thought that it was Prince Harry’s way of honoring his late mom, Princess Diana.

But a royal source clarified, “The seat in front of the Queen is always left empty, I am told by Buckingham Palace. She needs to be seen – and the seat she was sitting in today is her favorite seat in that chapel, apparently!”

Rebecca English, a royal correspondent, also tweeted about the controversial empty seat on May 19.

“Btw – I’ve seen some reports about the spare seat by Prince Harry in the chapel as having being left in memory of Princess Diana. It wasn’t empty for that reason. The seat in front of the Queen is always empty. I am told by BP,” she wrote.