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Princess Kate Visits Wimbledon Day 4

Princess Kate's Wimbledon visit spanned far beyond the Royal Box today.

Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, July 2, 2026
Photo credit: Shaun Brooks/CameraSport

Wimbledon—Tennis’ most famous queue took a Royal twist today.

Princess Kate visited The Championships on Wimbledon Day 4 today sending a stately buzz of excitement throughout the grounds.

British Royalty typically visits the Royal Box during finals weekend, but today Princess Kate’s tour transcended well beyond the Royal Box.

First, the Princess Catherine of Wales visited the queue where fans camp out overnight for a shot to buy Centre Court tickets.

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A smiling Princess Kate spoke with several fans and even gave a brief hug to an older fan. Then she spent time sitting in the cozy confines of Court 18. Tennis fans recall No. 18 Court hosted the longest match in tennis history won by John Isner over Nicolas Mahut.

On this day Princess Kate sat next to former world No. 4 and All England Club’s Tim Henman watching British No. 3 Arthur Fery defeat Fin Otto Virtanen 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-3 to become the fourth British wild card to reach the men’s singles third round since 2000 after Andy Murray, James Ward and Liam Broady.

Fery’s victory came one round after qualifier Virtanen stunned American No. 1 Ben Shelton, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(8), 6-2, 7-6(9) in round one.

Afterward, Fery said he was glad he didn’t know in advance the Princess was coming to his match.

“I didn’t know she was coming. I didn’t know that, yeah, that was the case,” Fery said. “Yeah, I mean, it’s obviously an honor to play in front of her.

“Yeah, I guess if I’d known, it would have maybe made me a little tight. Yeah, I guess it’s an honor to play
in front of her.”

Princess Kate is an avid tennis fan, a recreational player, who has hit with Roger Federer on Centre Court, and a patron of the All England Club.

“On arrival, Her Royal Highness visited The Queue, spending time meeting attendees who have queued since early this morning, alongside AELTC’s honorary stewards, who volunteer each year to manage The Queue and welcome guests as they arrive at the Championships,” Kensington Palace said in a statement.

Clad in a blue blazer, matching blue slacks and a white top, Princess Kate, who announced her cancer was in remission last year, later visited the Royal Box where she sat alongside former world No. 1 Sir Andy Murray. Wimbledon plans to unveil a tribute statue to Murray next year.

An amiable Princess Kate took some selfies with fans at various times during her Day 4 visit.

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Last year, the Princess presented the Rosewater Dish to Wimbledon winner Iga Swiatek and consoled finalist Amanda Anisimova after a double-bagel thrashing in the 2025 final.

Princess Kate was also on hand for Jannik Sinner’s victory over Carlos Alcaraz last July and Alcaraz’s three-set win over Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic in the 2024 final.

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Richard Pagliaro. Richard Pagliaro is Tennis Now Managing Editor. He is a graduate of New York University and has covered pro tennis for more than 35 years. Richard was tennis columnist for Gannett Newspapers in NY, served as Managing Editor for TennisWeek.com and worked as a writer/editor for Tennis.com. He has been TennisNow.com managing editor since 2010.
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