EXCLUSIVE: The Heartbreaking Reason Princess Eugenie Left a Seat Vacant at Wedding to Jack Brooksbank

RadarOnline.com can reveal Princess Eugenie made a quiet but deeply emotional decision on her wedding day, leaving one of the best seats in St. George's Chapel deliberately empty in a gesture rooted in love, protocol, and devotion to her grandmother Queen Elizabeth.

When Eugenie, now 35, married Jack Brooksbank at Windsor Castle in October 2018, the ceremony drew 850 guests and millions of viewers worldwide.

Amid the grandeur, eagle-eyed royal watchers noticed a conspicuous empty chair in the front row of the right-hand choir pews, prime real estate inside the historic chapel.

Speculation swirled the vacant seat was reserved in memory of a deceased relative or marked the absence of a guest. The reality, however, was both simpler and more poignant.

And the gesture has now resurfaced among royal watchers who say it shows the "class" the royal family used to be capable of before The Firm was swamped in one of its biggest scandals yet, thanks to Eugenie's father Andrew Windsor's shameful links to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The empty chair was about ensuring the comfort and clear sightline of the Queen, 92, who attended alongside her husband, Prince Philip, 97.

According to royal protocol, no one is permitted to sit directly in front of the monarch. A source said: "Custom at St. George's Chapel places the Queen and senior members of the royal family in the right-hand choir stalls nearest the altar.

"Long-standing protocol makes it clear that no guest should be seated ahead of the monarch in a way that would block her line of sight during the service."

In Eugenie's case, the Queen chose not to occupy the front-row seat herself, apparently because she did not find it comfortable.

Instead, she opted to sit in the second row beside Philip, leaving the chair in front intentionally vacant so nothing would block her view of her granddaughter exchanging vows.

For Eugenie, the detail reflected a lifelong closeness with her grandmother, whom she affectionately called "Grannie."

The Queen had promised the princess years earlier that she could wear the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara on her wedding day, a commitment she honored when Meghan Markle requested the same tiara for her own wedding earlier that year.

On the front row that day sat the then-Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, alongside Eugenie's sister , as well as Zara Tindall and Mike Tindall.

In the second row with the Queen and Philip were the then-Prince Charles, Prince William, his wife Catherine, Prince Harry, and Markle, who had married in the same chapel five months earlier.

A palace aide said about the empty chair: "For Eugenie and Jack's wedding, that seemingly minor adjustment was about making sure the Queen was comfortable and able to watch every moment as her granddaughter married the man she loved."

That relationship endured well beyond the wedding day. When the Queen died in September 2022, Eugenie and Beatrice shared a joint statement reflecting their grief.

"We've not been able to put much into words since you left us all," they wrote.

"There have been tears and laughter, silences and chatter, hugs and loneliness, and a collective loss for you, our beloved Queen and our beloved Grannie. We, like many, thought you'd be here forever. And we all miss you terribly."

The statement continued: "You were our matriarch, our guest, our loving hand on our backs leading us through this world."

In 2022, Eugenie said she hoped her eldest son, August, born in 2021, would inherit the Queen's qualities. She added she would "love Augie to have her patience, her calmness, and her kindness, while always being able to laugh at himself and keep a twinkle in his eye."