Princess Kate actually got in trouble for breaking Wimbledon rules

(Image credit: Karwai Tang / Getty)

published 27 June 2023

Princess Kate has long been a tennis fan, with the royal often spotted in the royal box at Wimbledon.

The Princess of Wales has been Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club since 2016 when the late Queen Elizabeth II distributed many of the titles to family members as she reduced her royal duties.

Kate Middleton's children are also said to be fond of the sport, with Prince Louis reported to be a 'keen' player.

However, it seems that the Princess isn't exempt from the rules of the game - as she realised this weekend.

Kate showed off her athletic skills on Saturday by participating in a tennis event at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, home of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, with retired great Roger Federer.

There, the two joined forces to film a video. Daily Mail reporter Rebecca English tweeted: "The Princess of Wales, Patron of The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, has made a YouTube film with legendary Wimbledon champion @rogerfederer to shine a spotlight on its brilliant Ball Boys and Girls. They even have a rally on No.3 Court."

During the event, Kate practised her own ball girl skills. She caught a ball that was threatening to go out of bounds, though this move is not allowed in some places, such as Australia.

Roger asked whether the Princess' catch would be allowed this time around, and Kate also checked with a ball girl as to whether she was within her rights.

The ball girl in question — named Mollie — wasn't too shy to tell Kate where she'd gone wrong.

"You are not meant to catch it," she told her. "You are meant to let it bounce and then get it, but good catch."

To promote the film, which you can watch in full over here, the Prince and Princess of Wales wrote on Instagram in a collaborative post with Roger: "The unsung heroes of @wimbledon

"The skill and dedication of the Ball Boys and Girls help make The Championships so special. They certainly taught us a few things!"

In a second post with the official Wimbledon account, they said: "The #Wimbledon Ball Boys and Girls play a pivotal role in The Championships. We went to visit them on a day’s training with @rogerfederer."

Kate is a huge tennis fan, and as such, has had some pretty cool opportunities over the years, such as the time she got to play a match with tennis champ Emma Raducanu back in 2021.

No big deal!

Topics

Royal Family Kate Middleton

Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.

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