Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: The Queen, Prince Harry, UK News, Twitter, Viral
Emily Brown
Members of the public have been left questioning why Prince Harry was seated in the second row back at the Queen's funeral as the events played out live on television.
The prince joined the rest of the royal family at the state funeral at Westminster Abbey today (19 September), along with hundreds of heads of state and foreign dignitaries who travelled to London to pay their respects to the longest-ruling monarch in British history.
The funeral has been broadcast live for members of the public, with some even going to cinemas to watch the events unfold, but viewers were shocked to see the Queen's grandson on the second row in the Abbey.
"Why is Prince Harry in the second row? Another bad decision by the royal family and truly disrespectful to her majesty the queen who adored her grandson. Where is the unity?" one Twitter user wrote.
Another commented: "Tremendous piece of theatre, this. Still trying to work why Prince Harry is relegated to the second row while an ex rugby player sits up front."
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A third confused viewer wrote: "Notable that Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, who are not working #royals, are in the front pew, while the King's son, #PrinceHarry, is in the second."
Prince Harry gave up his royal duties when he moved to the US with his wife, Meghan Markle, which is also the reason why he was seen wearing a morning suit to the funeral rather than his military uniform.
He was accompanied in the second row by Markle, as well as his cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. He was seated behind his dad, King Charles III, and an aisle away from his brother, Prince William.
The front row of the Abbey was filled with the King as well as the Queen consort Camilla, Princess Anne, her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie the Countess of Wessex.
Joining Prince William across the aisle were Kate Middleton the Princess of Wales, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and Princess Anne's children, Peter Philips and Zara, and Zara's husband, former rugby union player Mike Tindall.
Joe Biden was seated much further back in the Abbey, seated on the 14th row. Other leaders in attendance at the funeral included Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
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