Kate Middleton surprises tennis fans in Wimbledon queue in unannounced visit to tournament

The Princess of Wales has made a surprise visit to Wimbledon today – fresh from completing the Three Peaks Challenge at the weekend – where she was seen meeting people who have queued up for tickets

The Princess of Wales has made a surprise visit to Wimbledon – greeting tennis fans who have spent the night camping out in the queue.

Fresh from completing the gruelling Three Peaks Challenge at the weekend to raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital, Kate chatted to those who had spent hours waiting in the hope to get a ticket to the action at the tournament today.

The princess, who wore a blue suit and had her hair in a ponytail, was seen shaking hands as she chatted to fans outside the All England Club and met tournament organisers before helping out scanning tickets.

She later made her way to Court 18, where she sat alongside former British Number One Tim Henman and the All England Club chair Deborah Jevans to watch Brit Arthur Fery in his second round match against Finlands’s Otto Virtanen.

The princess is known to be a keen tennis fan and is often seen in the Royal Box during the tournament and now has the role of presenting the singles champions with their trophies.

However, she once recalled that before she was a royal, she had to wait outside the All England Club for tickets like other tennis fans.

In 2023, Kate told British number one Emma Raducanu how she had waited in the queue for tickets during her childhood. The Princess of Wales told how she waited in line with her dad, Michael, and sister, Pippa, when she was a little girl.

She said they would be waiting at “the crack of dawn”. She said: “I used to do that. It meant so much to be able to get the ground passes and be part of the championships”.

Other Brits playing today in the singles competition are Katie Swan, who is coming up against Madison Keys on Court One and Jacob Fearnley, who is in action against Spain’s Jaume Munar on Court 12.