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TL; DR: 

  • Prince Harry and Meghan Markle went to St. Paul’s Cathedral for a National Service of Thanksgiving honoring Queen Elizabeth II on June 3, 2022. 
  • Meghan Markle and Prince Harry sat in the second row behind other, more senior royals. 
  • A royal commentator says Prince Harry was likely “genuinely happy” to be a “second-tier royal.” 
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who a royal commentator says probably wasn't furious about sitting in the second row at St. Paul's Cathedral, walks the aisle
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Arthur Edwards – WPA Pool/Getty Images

Nobody puts Prince Harry in the second row. Well, that is except for the British royal family. The 37-year-old and Meghan Markle’s St. Paul’s Cathedral appearance had the couple sitting behind more senior royals. According to one royal commentator, the seating arrangement for the Platinum Jubilee weekend event probably didn’t bother the father of two. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle went to St. Paul’s Cathedral for a National Service of Thanksgiving

Following much speculation surrounding which events they’d attend during four days of Platinum Jubilee festivities, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at St. Paul’s Cathedral on June 3, 2022. Harry and Meghan smiled as they walked up the steps and proceeded down the aisle holding hands. 

They took their seats in the second row next to Princesses Beatrice, Eugenie, and their husbands. Notably, Harry’s older brother, Prince William, and his sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, sat across the aisle in the front row. Joining them were Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.

Harry and Meghan’s St. Paul’s Cathedral appearance didn’t involve any interactions with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

A royal commentator says Prince Harry probably didn’t mind sitting in the second row as a ‘second-tier royal’

In a column for the UK’s Telegraph, royal commentator Celia Walden dismissed claims Harry had been “absolutely furious” with his lower status after stepping back as a senior royal in 2020. She wrote that while in the past it might’ve bothered him — and Meghan — he’s likely OK with it, or even downright “happy.” 

“There would surely have been a time when being shunted from the front row would have would have left Harry and Meghan smarting. Well, Meghan at least,” Walden said. 

“Rightly or wrongly, I’ve always assumed that, whereas the Duchess’s Garbo-esque ‘I want to be alone’ act is just that, Harry is probably genuinely happy to be relegated to a second-tier royal,” she continued. 

The couple seemed to play their new roles ‘seamlessly’

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who attended service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral, smile as they look on and hold hands
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Karwai Tang/WireImage
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Walden went on, saying there wasn’t much that could be said in the way of a critique as far as Harry and Meghan’s St. Paul’s appearance was concerned. She said their “low-key return could not be faulted.” They seemed to understand “for once” it “wasn’t about them” but Queen Elizabeth, who reluctantly skipped the service. 

“They played their new ‘second-tier Sussexes’ roles seamlessly,” Walden said, adding they “proved they could do it.” While the “reality may take some getting used to,” she shared that, in her opinion, “having their eye on a bigger prize in a bigger country will make it easier.”

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