Why Meghan Markle Didn't Stand with the Queen, Kate and Camilla at Remembrance Ceremony

During the solemn ceremony, the Queen, Kate and Camilla stood together at one balcony, while Meghan watched from the balcony of another window

Meghan Markle wasn’t standing with her royal family members at a Remembrance Day Service on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean she was slighted.

During the solemn ceremony honoring those who lost their lives in World War I, Queen Elizabeth II, Kate Middleton and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall stood together at one balcony, while Meghan watched from the balcony of another window outside the Cenotaph war memorial in London.

As the balconies of each window are small, it’s nearly impossible to fit more than three or four women on each — and although Meghan didn’t join her family members, she was given a very important position of her own.

During the ceremony, she watched with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s wife Elke Budenbender.

TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images

TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images

During official events, the royal family also arranges themselves according to a royal “pecking order.”

For instance, when Meghan made her official Trooping the Colour debut in June, she wasn’t front and center on the palace balcony, and instead stood behind Kate and Prince William.

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

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

A palace source said that Meghan’s balcony position “would have come from her. 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.”

Samir Hussein/WireImage

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During Sunday’s event, Meghan, who is expecting her first child in the spring, stepped out wearing a black coat and hat with her hair pulled back.

Meanwhile, Kate sported a black coat with a white collar and red embellishments on the shoulders. She finished her look with a hat and cream earrings.

Both wore red poppies, the symbol of remembrance for World War I and veterans.

The two sisters-in-law also wore similar all-black outfits at Saturday’s Festival of Remembrance ceremony at Royal Albert Hall.

This is Meghan’s first Remembrance Day as a member of the royal family.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

On the evening of Remembrance Sunday, Meghan, Harry, Kate and William will join the Queen and other royals for a service to mark the Centenary of the Armistice at Westminster Abbey.