It seems I may have focussed too much in my original post on wishing to sit together (now happily seated in row 2) vs the ability for gold members to book as per the terms on the BA website and have free seat selection for the party when travelling on the same flight and in the same booking class (with the notable exception of 1A/K in F).

I know it is normally possible to book row 1 in CE for others regardless of status so was wondering if this seating situation was simply a quirk in the IT system or if the row 1 selection benefits were only applicable if seated next to each other etc.. We don't do much SH flying either so I'm more familiar with what's available in CW/F, particularly as leg room isn't such an issue there.

As it stands, we're more than happy with the current seats (with seat alerts on EF set up!) and it was more out of curiosity that I originally checked and posted here. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to change the date of this flight (with row 1 seats previously) so I do fully appreciate others booked earlier than I did and clearly have every right to the seats they have already reserved.

I would never dream of asking someone to swap for a seat further back that was a material downgrade for them, but seat swapping in the same row where there is no discernible benefit/loss seemed a bit more nuanced.