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Why Sussexes and the Cambridges sit separately at the Festival of Remembrance

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have front row seats due to the order of precedence

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Sophie Vokes-Dudgeon
Head of Digital
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It was a happy reunion on Saturday evening for the former Fab Four as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped out together along with the rest of the royal family for the annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall.

ALL THE PHOTOS: From the Festival of Remembrance

WATCH: The Sussexes and the Cambridges watch the performance

But while fans were delighted to see the two couples back together at the venue, once they stepped inside, Harry and Meghan took their seats on different sides of the royal box to William and Kate. The reason? The entire family was seated in order of precedence.

prince harry meghan markle festival

Harry and Meghan are seated further back in the royal box due to order of precedence

Her Majesty the Queen of course always takes centre position at events such as these, and since Prince William is second in line to the throne, he and Kate get the honour of siting to the monarch’s right hand side. Prince Charles - first in line - sits to his mother’s left, while Prince Harry sits in the row behind with his wife Meghan, close to Prime Minister Boris Johnston.

Harry is now sixth in line to the throne, behind William’s three children George, Charlotte and Louis. Prince Harry will have been delighted to have a date in his diary to catch up with his brother as he admitted recently that their paths were diverging slightly at the moment.

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Duchess Meghan looked stunning in black jacquard dress

"We are certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him as I know he will always be there for me,” Harry told Tom Bradbury in his documentary Harry and Meghan: An African Journey. “We don't see each other as much as we used to because we are so busy but I love him dearly."

FASHION: Kate stuns in Zara headband at Festival of Remembrance

Tom also asked the Duke of Sussex whether news stories that the brothers had fallen out had any truth to them. The new dad didn't issue an outright denial, instead saying that "inevitably stuff happens" given the pressure of the roles they were born into. But he added that there was little truth to the speculation, saying: "The majority of the stuff is created out of nothing but as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days.”

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Kate looked stunning in blue with a Zara headband

William, Kate, Harry and Meghan all wore poppies at the annual Festival, which commemorates all those who have lost their lives in conflicts. This year marks the 75th anniversary of a number of crucial battles of 1944 - Monte Cassino, Kohima and Imphal, and D-Day – with a particular emphasis on the role of the Commonwealth and Allied Forces.

Other senior members of the royal family who were in attendance were the Duke of York, Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex, Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.

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