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Kate and Charlotte smile in royal box at Wimbledon© Getty

Princess Kate reveals how Princess Charlotte is following in her footsteps

The Princess of Wales and her daughter, nine, enjoyed a girls' day out

Danielle Stacey
Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
July 17, 2024
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The Princess of Wales revealed how her daughter, Princess Charlotte, is following in her footsteps with one of her favourite hobbies.

 Kate, 42, made her second public appearance of the year amid her ongoing cancer treatment, attending the Wimbledon Men's Final with Charlotte, nine, and Kate's sister, Pippa Matthews, 40.

The Princess and Charlotte were greeted by British players Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal, Lily Miyazaki, Lucy Shuker and Flora Johnson as they arrived on the players' lawn at Wimbledon before entering Centre Court.

 During their conversation, Kate shared that Charlotte had been "practising yesterday" and that tennis was "really great for the youngsters".

 The royal mum said she had been "filling in the leaderboard" with Charlotte during Wimbledon, adding: "As a family, we play a lot."

 After being asked to try wheelchair tennis by Shuker, Kate said: "I've tried wheelchair rugby before, but not tennis. You'll have to hold me to that."

Kate and Charlotte meet tennis stars at the AELTC© Getty
Kate and Charlotte met players including Lucy Shuker and Emma Raducanu

 The Princess herself reportedly used to take tennis lessons at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham when the Waleses resided in London.

 Prince William and Kate also have a tennis court at the Norfolk home in Wales, and Prince George even had a one-to-one lesson with Roger Federer when he was younger.

Kate Middleton plays tennis© Getty
Kate has played tennis with some big stars

The Swiss star previously said of the young royal's abilities: "At that stage it's all about just touching the ball, it's already good. Same with my boys. I think I have a little advantage that I actually spent some time, you know, with him."

Kate's love of Wimbledon stems back to her childhood, with the Princess telling a BBC documentary in 2017: "I have watched Wimbledon, that was very much part of my growing up. It's such a quintessential part of the English summer, and I think it really inspires youngsters, myself, it inspired me when I was younger to get involved in the game. It hasn't changed either, I think that's what's so wonderful."

The future Q ueen has rarely missed the tournament, except in 2013 when she was heavily pregnant with Prince George.

LISTEN: Inside the royals' love of sport

Meet and greet

After presenting the trophy to Wimbledon Champion, Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Novak Djokovic for a second year in a row, Kate and Charlotte met Alcaraz behind-the-scenes.

The Princess introduced her daughter to Alcaraz, saying: "This is Charlotte, cheering you on."

Princess Kate chats with Carlos as Princess Charlotte fangirls© Twitter/Platform X
Kate introduced Charlotte to Alcaraz

But as they finished their conversation, there was an awkward moment as Kate's sister, Pippa, stepped forward to chat with the Spanish player.

Kate, spotting that her sister wanted to congratulate Alcaraz, tried to introduce Pippa - but it was too late.

Watch the moment in the clip below…

WATCH: Pippa Middleton suffers awkward moment at Wimbledon

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