LONDON (AP) 鈥� Kate, the Princess of Wales, met tennis fans lining up in Wimbledon’s and sat beside Andy Murray in a day of rooting on British players at the grass-court Grand Slam.
The princess, who early last year , is the patron of the All England Club.
鈥淥n arrival, Her Royal Highness visited The Queue, spending time meeting attendees who have queued since early this morning, alongside AELTC鈥檚 honorary stewards, who volunteer each year to manage The Queue and welcome guests as they arrive at the Championships,鈥� Kensington Palace said in a statement Thursday.
Wimbledon leaves a small batch of tickets available for same-day purchase and fans begin lining up and camping out the evening before in Wimbledon Park to get them each day.
Kate 鈥� who also 鈥� met with children from Shine Camera Club, a local program that supports kids from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Crowds gathered as Kate walked by 鈥淗enman Hill鈥� to reach Court 18, where British player Arthur Fery was facing Otto Virtanen. She was greeted there by All England Club chair Deborah Jevans and board member Tim Henman, a former Wimbledon semifinalist and namesake of the grassy area 鈥� also just called The Hill 鈥� that overlooks No. 1 Court.
Kate watched a portion of the match 鈥� Fery won 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-3 鈥� before attending Katie Swan’s match against Madison Keys at No. 1 Court, where she , who in 2013 became the first British man to win the Wimbledon singles title in 77 years. Swan lost 6-1, 6-4.
Neither Swan nor Fery realized the princess was watching.
鈥淚 heard after that she was there,鈥� the 27-year-old Swan said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 probably a good thing I didn鈥檛 know, otherwise I might have been a bit more nervous.鈥�
Swan added she’d 鈥渓ove to meet her if possible one day,鈥� calling Kate 鈥渟uch an inspiring person.鈥�
The 23-year-old Fery said it was 鈥渁n honor鈥� to play in front of Kate.
鈥淚 guess if I’d known, it would have maybe made me a little tight,鈥� said Fery, who didn’t notice the crowd buzz. 鈥淚 was locked in. I didn鈥檛 hear it.鈥�
Kate last year was to present the winners鈥� trophies to singles champions Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner. Kate offered consoling words to women’s runner-up Amanda Anisimova after a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Swiatek.
In 2024, , Kate did not attend the women鈥檚 final but was on hand for Carlos Alcaraz鈥檚 win over Novak Djokovic.
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