Why Meghan Markle Didn’t Stand With Queen Elizabeth, Kate Middleton and Camilla at Remembrance Ceremony

Meghan Markle joined the rest of the royal family at another somber Remembrance Day ceremony on Sunday morning, but was noticeably not standing at the same balcony as Kate Middleton, Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. The reason for this was simple and had nothing to do with hurting the Duchess of Sussex’s feelings. The balconies at the windows were just too small for four women.

The royal family gathered at the Cenotaph war memorial in London Sunday. The Queen, Camilla and Middleton stood at one balcony. Markle stood with Sophie, Countess of Wessex, wife of Prince Edward; and Sir Timothy Lawrence, husband of Princess Anne. During last year’s ceremony, Markle stood next to Elke Budenbender, wife of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

During official events like Sunday’s Remembrance Day ceremony, the royal family usually arranges themselves in a royal order. It makes sense that Middleton and Camilla would stand next to the Queen, as their husbands are next in the line of succession to the throne. In June, Markle, Prince Harry and their son Archie were not at the front of the palace balcony at Trooping the Colour either.

“She was not as prominent perhaps as some people might have expected, but there’s a pecking order,” Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, explained to PEOPLE. “There was no slight intended, but William being the older, more senior brother would go out [first] with his wife.”

“There’s no one laying this out, telling her where to stand. And there were a lot of kids who everyone would want at the front,” another palace source told the magazine.

While Camilla, Markle and Middleton looked on, their husbands Prince Charles, Prince Harry and Prince William laid a wreath at the Cenotaph after two minutes of silence to remember those lost during wars and other conflicts.

“Every year, the nation unites on Remembrance Sunday, traditionally held at 11am on the second Sunday in November, to honour the service and sacrifice of our Armed Forces community, the British and Commonwealth veterans, the Allies that fought alongside us and the civilian servicemen and women involved in the two World Wars and later conflicts,” Kensington Palace noted in a statement on Instagram.

Harry and Markle’s office also shared photos from the event on the couple’s official Instagram page.

“As shared at last night’s Festival of Remembrance, this quote embodies the sacrifice of those that serve, ‘When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today,’” the Instagram post read.

On Saturday, Harry, William, Markle and Middleton attended the Festival of Remembrance Service at Royal Albert Hall. It was the first time all four appeared at an event since they attended a polo match in July. During the service, all four wore poppy pins to memorialize military members who have died in war.

The back-to-back appearances together came after rumors started swirling of a “rift” between Harry and William.

“Inevitably stuff happens. But we’re brothers, we’ll always be brothers,” Harry said in the ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. “We’re certainly on different paths at the moment. I’ll always be there for him and as I know, he’ll always be there for me. We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we’re so busy but I love him dearly.”

Photo credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images