The Duchess of Cambridge loves
tennis and has been a regular at Wimbledon over the last few years, attending
matches alongside her husband, the Duke of Cambridge, her sister, Pippa
Middleton, dad Michael Middleton, and sister-in-law Meghan Markle, among
others.
We don’t yet know whether the
keen sports fan will make an appearance at this year’s event, however.
That’s because senior working
royals like Kate and William typically only announce their attendance the
previous day or the day of their arrival.
Other royals, such as Princesses
Beatrice and Eugenie, do not usually give any advance notice.
It does seem likely that Kate
will attend the Championships this year, as not only do she and her family
clearly enjoy the event, she is patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, having
taken over the role from the Queen back in 2016.
It’s also been several years
since the Duchess didn’t attend, not including 2020 when the tournament didn’t
take place.
Last year, Kate enjoyed a match with her dad Michael |
The mum-of-three also missed
an especially important match a few years earlier – but it was for a very
sweet reason.
During an interview with Sue
Barker on the BBC documentary Our Wimbledon in 2017, the Duchess
explained that due to her first pregnancy, she was advised not to attend
the tournament in 2013 when Andy Murray became the first British
man to win the men’s final in 77 years.
“I was very heavily
pregnant with George so I wasn’t able to turn up,” Kate told the
presenter. Sue then said: “But you had a great excuse!”
Kate replied: “I know but
even still, I sort of was there… ‘maybe I could go’ but the doctors were like
‘definitely not.’ I wrote to [Andy Murray] afterward saying, ‘Sorry for
not being there, but huge congratulations.'”
The Duke and Duchess
welcomed their first child Prince George on 22 July, just a few weeks
after Andy’s historic victory.