In a return to normal royal programming, the Princess of Wales was back in her natural habitat on Sunday, otherwise known as the first row of the royal box at Wimbledon.
Kate is a noted tennis enthusiast — clocking her Highly Invested Spectator facial expressions is as much a tradition at the All-England Club as washing down strawberries and cream with a Pimm’s — but her presence at this year’s tournament was a question mark, due to her recent cancer diagnosis and treatment. Then, the night before the men’s finals, the palace announced that the Princess of Wales would be present to award the men’s final gold trophy in her role as patron.
The match-time announcement is likely due to the same reason we didn’t hear about Kate’s presence at last month’s Trooping the Colour until hours beforehand. As someone undergoing cancer treatment, Kate has “good days and bad days,” as she wrote on Instagram a few weeks ago.
Wimbledon, it seems, happily coincided with the former, the days where Kate says “you want to make the most of feeling well.” Sitting in the best seat in the house, on a sunny English summer day, watching Novak Djokovic lose to Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets? If that’s how Kate is keeping her promise to “join a few public engagements over the summer” and “spend time on the things that give me energy and positivity,” we’d call that scoring an ace during what has been a tough couple rounds for the princess.
Here are four meaningful moments from Kate’s Wimbledon appearance, which was only her second public engagement this year.
1. Kate Middleton received a standing ovation
Just a few minutes before the match started, Kate walked down the stadium steps and took her seat in the front row of the royal box. She received a standing ovation from the crowd. Mouthing “thank you,” and waving, the princess looked both shy at the attention and touched by the show of support.
2. Kate wore a new dress in a meaningful colour
There was online chatter that by wearing a purple dress, Kate was telegraphing a coded message about the kind of cancer she’s being treated for. But the real reason that she chose a purple frock is likely far more obvious: purple and green have been the official colours of Wimbledon for more than a hundred years.
This was a brand-new dress, albeit by a designer she’s worn before: the sustainably-minded, woman-owned British label Safiyaa, which makes everything to order to reduce waste. Kate paired the Safiyaa dress with a previously worn bag from L.K. Bennett bag — a British high street name familiar to OG Kate fans for those nude pumps she wore on repeat in her early royal days. Her Camilla Elphick heels were also a rewear: she wore them to a polo match last year.
If Kate’s outfit was telegraphing anything, it was “Classic Kate Middleton,” from the British brands to the familiar A-line silhouette in a jewel tone and the recycled items from her royal wardrobe, all paired with her signature bouncy blowout. It could have been 2014, it could have been 2024. There was something reassuring about that.
3. Princess Charlotte and Pippa were Kate’s plus-ones
Accompanying Kate to Wimbledon were Princess Charlotte and Kate’s sister Pippa. (Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael, were also spotted at the tournament earlier this week, so we can only assume Kate’s complimentary tickets as patron of the All England Club are being put to good use.) Before the game, Kate and Charlotte, 9, met the 2024 Wimbledon women’s champion, Barbora Krejciková, who gifted the young royal a tennis racquet. Charlotte took in the game wearing pink Ray Ban shades.
Prince William wasn’t at Wimbledon, but that’s because he and Prince George had equally pressing sporting plans of their own: a.ka., watching England lose the Euros soccer final to Spain in Berlin.
4. Kate chatted, and looked relaxed
Kate’s appearance at Trooping the Colour last month was very formal — lots of riding in carriages, standing on balconies, etc. — but at Wimbledon, she looked like the most comfortable version of herself. This engagement was made up of the face time and hand-shaking that is the royals’ bread and butter.
Kate met with rising tennis stars and chatted with winner Carlos Alcaraz after presenting him with his trophy. (Charmingly, she introduced her daughter, saying, “This is Charlotte,” as if he might not recognize one of the most famous kids on earth.) She sat for hours in a crowd, surrounded by other people and their camera phones, laughing with Charlotte and Pippa, and speaking in those familiar Sloane-y tones. It all seemed extremely normal.
It was also, hopefully, a final rebuke to those last conspiracy holdouts who are still holding onto the fever dream of bizarre theories and ripped-from-soap-opera-storylines accusations that was the “where is Kate” phenomenon from earlier this year. We look forward to seeing her again soon.
