The Middletons are known to love a spot of tennis, with the family enjoying trips to Wimbledon each year. But not everything went according to plan one year, when Kate was “mortified” by her dad’s embarrassing courtside mistake
The Princess of Wales has a long history with Wimbledon as an avid tennis fan, with her family even joining her in the royal box for the yearly event. This year, Kate’s parents Carole and Michael attended Wimbledon solo, as they rubbed shoulders with royals and celebrities alike while watching on from the royal box.
While Kate has yet to make an appearance at SW19 this year, she has often attended the tennis tournament in years past, with her sister, parents and children by her side. And while each Wimbledon is memorable in its own rite, there was one particular year that things quickly went south for the princess.
In a 2017 BBC documentary called Our Wimbledon presented by sports host Sue Barker, Princess Kate recalled the year she was left “mortified” by her father’s courtside gaffe.
Kate told Sue how her dad tried to play it cool in front of the former British number one tennis player Tim Henman, as she explained: “My father is not going to appreciate this, but we were walking past Tim Henman and we had just seen [Pete] Sampras play. My dad said very coolly: ‘Hi Pete’. I was mortified!”
Kate has attended Wimbledon with her parents several times, and was spotted taking part in a Mexican wave with her father at the 2021 tournament.
When the Princess of Wales attended with her parents in 2022, she was seen blowing a kiss and waving to her parents, who were sitting elsewhere in the Centre Court’s royal box.
Carole and Michael Middleton attended Wimbledon today without Princess Kate by their side, as they watched the championships’ quarter finals action, including Novak Djokovic taking on Alex de Minaur.
The Middletons were joined in the royal box by tennis legend Roger Federer, who Kate once revealed that her mother fancied, as well as Roger’s wife Mirka.
In the same 2017 Wimbledon documentary, Kate revealed her mother’s secret crush on the Swiss tennis champion, admitting: “Roger [Federer] is my mother’s heartthrob. I don’t think she will mind me saying that! I think he probably knows that too.”
Joining the Middletons in the Royal Box today was the Duchess of Edinburgh, who arrived at Wimbledon just hours after attending a solemn service at St Paul’s Cathedral this morning to mark the 20th anniversary of the London 7/7 bombings.
Other notable names spotted at Wimbledon today include comedians Sir Lenny Henry and Michael McIntyre as well as England cricketers Sir James Anderson and Joe Root. Broadcaster Gabby Logan was another famous face spotted at the grounds of the tournament on Monday.
