This empty seat wasn’t the touching tribute you thought it was

VIEWERS thought this empty seat at Harry and Meghan’s wedding was a poignant tribute. They were wrong.

OF ALL the famous faces at the Royal Wedding, there was one person whose absence was deeply felt — Prince Harry’s beloved mother, Diana.

And while there were plenty of touching tributes to the late Princess of Wales on her youngest son’s big day, eagle-eyed viewers mistakenly thought this was one of them.

Was the empty seat next to Prince William in memory of Diana? Picture: Jonathan Brady/WPA Pool/Getty Images

Many viewers and quite a few news outlets took to social media to comment on how a noticeably empty seat in the front pew, next to Prince William, had been reserved in memory of Diana.

I just realized Prince Harry left an empty seat beside Prince William to honor his mother, Princess Diana.

I'm not crying, you are. #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/WLnBsdVaHQ

— Ashraf (@asrric) May 19, 2018

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Left an Empty Seat for Princess Diana at Royal Wedding https://t.co/sWLaUm4wEq

— Harper's Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) May 19, 2018

Harry & William left a seat empty during the wedding in memory of their late mother, Princess Diana 💫

They used white garden roses as part of the decor and Harry picked flowers from Diana’s garden for Meghan’s bouquet.

I’m not crying, you are!#RoyalWedding#HarryandMeghan pic.twitter.com/A0yYDbtJtO

— Sophie (@trafotoz) May 19, 2018

When you know that that empty seat was meant for Diana...😭🙏❤️#RoyalWedding #HarryandMeghan pic.twitter.com/Oh7JyKDRyR

— Maria José Fragata (@maria_fragata) May 19, 2018

Leaving an empty seat for Princess Diana was a nice touch 👏#RoyalWeddding pic.twitter.com/FTFqFpOreT

— Vincent (@Planetwaves20) May 19, 2018

While that would have been a wonderful gesture to the groom’s late mother, the empty seat actually had nothing to do with her.

The reason the spot was left empty was because no one was allowed to sit in front of the Queen as she sat in her preferred seat in St George’s Chapel.

“I’ve seen some reports about the spare seat by Prince William in the chapel as having being left in memory of Princess Diana,” journalist Rebecca English tweeted.

One must never obscure the royal view. Picture: BBC

“It wasn’t empty for that reason. The seat in front of the Queen is always left empty, I am told by BP [Buckingham Palace].”

English added: “She needs to be seen — and the seat she was sitting in today is her favourite seat in that chapel, apparently!”

Btw - I’ve seen some reports about the spare seat by Prince William in the chapel as having being left in memory of Princess Diana. It wasn’t empty for that reason. The seat in front of the Queen is always left empty, I am told by BP #royalwedding

— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) May 19, 2018

Oops! Sorry. Apparently nobody sits in front of the Queen, so that was an empty seat anyway. Some really nice tributes to Diana thru-out tho which was pretty cool. 💗👍🏻 https://t.co/hmflYnuiqQ

— Jason Reeves (@JaseReeves) May 20, 2018

There were, however, many lovely tributes to the late Princess Diana during the Royal Wedding.

Meghan carried a bouquet of forget-me-nots — Diana’s favourite flower — which Harry had handpicked from the private gardens of Kensington Palace the day before the wedding.

And in her second outfit of the day, Meghan wore an emerald-cut aquamarine ring that belonged to the late People’s Princess, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, when Harry was 12 years old.