We consider calculations of direct two-proton removal reactions from a relativistic-energy 208 Pb beam incident on a 9 Be target, leading to the population of two-proton-hole isomeric configurations in 206 Hg. The calculated 5 − and 10+ isomeric state population ratios of 18.8% and 4.7%, respectively, are in fair agreement with the values deduced experimentally (21.9 +1.2 −2.9 % and 3.1 +1.0 −1.2 %); however, the high density of final states in this case complicates the prediction of isomeric ratios for those states fed by unobserved prompt γ -ray cascades. We also consider and quantify the effects of selection of events, according to the longitudinal momenta of the reaction residues, on the measured isomeric ratios for high-spin final states and, hence, of the potential to exploit such sensitivity to gain further insight into the reaction mechanism.