The Princess of Wales revealed that Princess Charlotte was cheering on Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final this afternoon.
The 42-year-old royal presented the Wimbledon trophy to Alcaraz this afternoon, marking the Spaniard’s second consecutive Grand Slam win.
The mother of three, who attended the final day of the tournament with her daughter Charlotte and sister Pippa Middleton, saw the reigning champion take on the experienced Novak Djokovic and win in three sets.
Kate and Charlotte, nine, spoke to tennis player Alcaraz off court and said she had watched his performance at home.
The mother of three, who has stepped down from public royal duties due to her cancer treatment, said: ‘This is Charlotte, [she was] cheering you on. You had crossed everything.
Kate and Charlotte, nine, spoke to talented tennis player Alcaraz off the court and revealed she had been watching the tennis at home
The mother of three, who has stepped down from public royal duties due to her cancer treatment, was photographed today with her daughter
Alcaraz, dressed all in white and holding his trophy, responded, “Nice to meet you.”
Kate then said, “We’ve been watching a lot on TV, so it’s great to finally meet you,” before repeating her words as the athlete had difficulty hearing her.
Charlotte was over the moon as she stood next to Kate and smiled at Alcaraz during their conversation. Her aunt Pippa stood behind the couple and laughed at the interaction.
Before passing the trophy to Alcaraz, Kate offered her condolences and shook hands with runner-up Novak Djokovic.
The royal, wearing a £1,295 custom-made Safiyaa gown, was greeted to a standing ovation earlier in the day as she entered the Royal Box at Wimbledon.
Before the mother-daughter duo took their seats in the Royal Box, they met female tennis stars, including 21-year-old Emma Radacanu, who all presented Kate with a bouquet of flowers
Charlotte grinned from ear to ear when she met the tennis star, who saw her Wimbledon dream shattered on Centre Court last week by New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun.
Kate and Charlotte were also greeted by Sonay Kartal, Lily Miyazaki, Lucy Shuker and Flora Johnson as they arrived at the Wimbledon players’ court, before taking to Centre Court.
Charlotte gave wheelchair tennis player Shuker a ‘pinky promise’ that she would try the sport with her mother.
A star-struck Charlotte looked slightly shy as she stood next to Kate and smiled at Alcaraz during their conversation, while her aunt Pippa stood behind the pair and grinned at the interaction
Kate Middleton and Charlotte were smiling and grinning throughout the match
Kate was also introduced to Raducanu, who was knocked out in the fourth round of this year’s championships. She told her: ‘It was so hard to see you go out.’
US Open winner Raducanu said it was “wonderful” to have the princess’s support and “to see her here looking so healthy and happy”.
The daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who wore a £70 Guess Polka Dot dress, was thrilled to meet the tennis star and was photographed flashing a big smile in her presence.
Mother and daughter were then introduced to the ‘Work at Wimbledon’ programme, which supports young people from different backgrounds in their role during the championships.
Alcaraz now has four Grand Slam trophies with a perfect record in major finals, following his two Wimbledon triumphs, his 2022 US Open victory and his French Open win last month. The defeat denied Djokovic a 25th Grand Slam title, which would have put him past Margaret Court on the all-time list and also equal Roger Federer’s eight men’s singles titles at Wimbledon.
Ten-year-old Prince George was not present, perhaps indicating that he will be attending the European Championship final in Berlin with his father tonight.
During her meeting with the players, Kate said Charlotte, who was wearing a navy polka dot dress, had “trained yesterday” and that tennis is “really great for the young players”.
Pippa Middleton, the Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte were photographed in the royal box today
Kate said she and Charlotte had been ‘filling the leaderboard’ at Wimbledon, adding: ‘As a family we play a lot.’
After Shuker asked her to try wheelchair tennis, Kate said, “I’ve tried wheelchair rugby before, but not tennis. You’ll have to hold me to that.”
Shuker, Britain’s highest-ranked wheelchair tennis player, said: ‘She just said how great it is to watch and follow everyone’s careers.
‘Alfie Hewett won the men’s wheelchair tennis before. I just asked them if they played tennis themselves, what they did, and I said, ‘Have you tried wheelchair tennis?’
‘And I got a little promise from Princess Charlotte that she would try.’
Shuker added: “It is a tremendous honor for me to be here and meet the princess today.”
Discussing her meeting with Kate, Raducanu said: ‘It was really nice to see Her Royal Highness again. I’ve met her twice before and it was really nice to meet Charlotte as well, because I hadn’t met her before.
“It’s great to see that she is such a tennis champion and follows all of us.
“We just talked a little bit about my tournament, and the tennis, and also how I missed last year, but I was really excited to come back this year. And a little bit about her tennis, because she loves it.”
Charlotte seemed excited to meet Emma, a former Grand Slam winner
Princess Charlotte sweetly shared a pinky swear with player Lucy Shuker
Charlotte, nine, also joined her mother in the Royal Box last year. They were without Prince George, ten, perhaps signalling that he will join his father at the Euros final in Berlin tonight
Asked about Kate’s performance at the tournament after her diagnosis, Raducanu said: “I think it shows how resilient she is and what a role model she is. It’s great to see her here so healthy and happy.”
Kate is undergoing chemotherapy and made her first public appearance since announcing she had cancer in March at the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London last month.
She was not present at the women’s singles final on Saturday, but Wimbledon president Debbie Jevans presented the trophy to Barbora Krejcikova on her behalf.
During their meeting on Sunday, Krejcikova gave the Princess of Wales the racket she used during her victory