Princess Kate Joins in a Wimbledon Standing Ovation For Roger ...
Princess Kate might be the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, but on the second day of Wimbledon, she was just one of many fans who cheered when Roger Federer and his wife, Mirka, joined her in the royal box. On Tuesday, the former tennis rivals reunited to catch a match between defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina against American Shelby Rogers. Before play began on Tuesday, the tournament honored Federer’s long career in tennis, which included eight Wimbledon men’s titles.
Federer announced his retirement from tennis late last year, and his last match was a loss at Wimbledon in 2021. But he’s still staying involved with the sport, most recently in a video, released last month, where he and Kate played a few sets and greeted the ball girls and boys who will be serving during the two-week tournament.
Kate wore a mint green Balmain blazer over a white pleated dress, and she accessorized with a purple and green All England pin—and matching umbrella when it rained during an earlier match on the outer courts. Kate, a regular tennis player herself, tends to catch matches between up-and-coming tennis talents early in the tournament, before returning to the tournament to catch the final matches.
She only took over the All England patronage role from the Duke of Kent in 2021, but she has been attending matches at Wimbledon since the earlier days of her relationship with Prince William. Over the years, she’s become good friends with Federer, who said in 2019 that he gave Prince George a private lesson when he went to visit Kate and her parents Michael and Carole Middleton at their home in Bucklebury. (Carole is also apparently a big fan of the tennis champion.)
Tuesday’s outing wasn’t Federer’s only recent high-profile appearance. On Sunday night, he joined Coldplay on stage in Zurich for a rendition of their 2002 song “Don’t Panic.”
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