Amidst the WW2, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Saudi King Ibn Saud met aboard USS Quincy after the Yalta conference.
Colonel Bill Eddy played the role of interpreter.
It however strikes as something very odd that in the photograph of meeting, Colonel Bill is kneeling before the two leaders.
Why is a commissioned officer of US Military doing such a thing? Was it some sort of a diplomatic custom back then that only a King or a ruler may sit with a King while others have to stand or kneel (A medieval custom that existed at least as late as reign of King Louis XIV of France in some form).
But we are talking about 20th century here. For example for current customs, see this meeting of Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin:
The interpreters here are accorded full respect of sitting with the leaders they were accompanying.
So TL;DR, why did Colonel Eddy kneel? Wasn't it considered an insult to the uniform? Was it a matter of diplomatic etiquette of that time?
Or could it be just a coincidence like the colonel dropping something and when he knelt to pick it up, the photographer took the picture?
Let me know if this would be better served at Politics SE instead of here (Though I think while Politics SE can guide me on Diplomatic etiquette, they won't provide me information regarding this specific historical moment so it might be better served here).