The glam new photos of royal sisters-in-law Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton together on the Buckingham Palace balcony have made headlines for many reasons this week. But, since the snapshots were taken, many people have wondered why exactly Meghan stood behind Kate during Trooping the Colour.

Well, it turns out that Meghan wasn’t merely being shy or wanting to stand in Kate’s shadow — the Duchesses’ positions on the balcony were actually decided by royal “pecking order,” according to People.

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“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, revealed. “There was no slight intended, but Prince William being the older, more senior brother would go out [first] with his wife.”

“[Meghan] was still in a good position. She was central rather than the alternative of being in the front row and along the balcony to the left or right. She was still near the heart of the action,” Little added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUHQVK5FkKw

However, a palace source later told People that Meghan’s standing position “would have come from her.” The insider continued, “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.”

Trooping the Colour — the annual royal event publicly celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s birthday — took place on Saturday, June 9 and marked Meghan’s first ever appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony. Seasoned royal Kate, on the other hand, has been photographed on the iconic terrace each year since she married into the British monarchy back in 2011.

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