Kate Middleton’s tradition with Princess Charlotte is adorable and it highlights how much their shared hobby really means to them.
After days of speculation, the Princess of Wales made her second public appearance of 2024 at the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final and was given a standing ovation from the delighted crowd. She was accompanied by Pippa Middleton and Princess Charlotte and all three looked thrilled to be back at SW19. Before the final, Kate and Princess Charlotte met iconic British tennis players Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal, Lucy Shuker, Flora Johnson and Yuriko Lily Miyazaki and the future Queen shared an intriguing revelation. It seems Kate has a tradition with Princess Charlotte during the championships as she explained they had been diligently filling in a leaderboard as the matches went on.
As reported by Hello!, the Princess of Wales explained that she and Princess Charlotte had been "filling in the leaderboard" during Wimbledon. Although she didn’t go into more detail, it sounds as if she and Charlotte made their own chart of the matches and were updating it regularly with the results, leading up to the finals.
It’s not clear whether they’d been "filling in the leaderboard" for all the individual draws but given how much of a tennis fan the future Queen is, we wouldn’t be surprised. This shows a real commitment over the fortnight and is an adorable activity for mum and daughter to do together as they watch the championships unfold.
Princess Charlotte is following in Kate’s footsteps with tennis as a much-loved hobby too. During her conversation with the tennis stars, Kate said that the day before the final her daughter had been "practising" and that she feels the sport is "really great for the youngsters". It looks as though it’s not just Princess Charlotte who’s got very much on board with tennis, as the Princess added that "as a family [they] play a lot".
She was also asked to try wheelchair tennis by Lucy Shuker and responded, "I've tried wheelchair rugby before, but not tennis. You'll have to hold me to that."
The senior royal’s tennis skills have been seen publicly on several occasions, including when she played doubles with Emma Raducanu in 2021. It’s likely she loves playing with her three children and even though Kate’s tradition with Charlotte won't start again until next year’s Wimbledon, the family practice sessions could be increasing right about now.
Over the years reports have suggested that Anmer Hall, where the family often spend time in the school holidays, has its own tennis court. Kate’s parents Michael and Carole also apparently have a court at their house, where Roger Federer once supposedly gave Prince George a tennis lesson. However, tennis isn’t the only sport that Princess Charlotte has been practising and Kate herself has been an expert teacher.
Last year the Prince and Princess of Wales visited Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre where they spoke with professional and young athletes about mental health and threw themselves into practical exercises organised by SportsAid. Afterwards, Ama Agbeze, who was the captain of the England Netball Team when they won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, claimed to People that Kate had been teaching Charlotte how to shoot in netball.
"Kate has played netball before, she knows the sport!" Ama said. "She said she had been teaching her daughter how to shoot in netball, but younger people have the net lower, so it’s actually very different - she’s still got it!"
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