The Princess of Wales revealed Princess Charlotte was ‘cheering on’ Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final this afternoon.
The royal, 42, presented the Wimbledon trophy to Alcaraz this afternoon as the Spaniard won the Grand Slam for a second year in a row.
The mother-of-three, who attended the last day of the tournament with her daughter Charlotte and sister, Pippa Middleton, saw the reigning champion take on veteran Novak Djokovic, winning in three sets.
Kate and Charlotte, nine, spoke to the tennis player Alcaraz off the court and revealed she had been watching his performance at home.
The mother-of-three, who has stepped away from public royal duties while undergoing cancer treatment, said: ‘This is Charlotte, [she was] cheering you on. You had everything crossed.
Alcaraz, who was dressed in all-white and holding his trophy, replied: ‘Nice to meet you.’
Kate then said: ‘We’ve watched a lot on telly, so it’s great to finally get to meet you,’ before repeating herself as the athlete was struggling to hear her.
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A star-struck Charlotte looked slightly shy as she stood next to Kate and smiled at Alcaraz during their conversation, as her aunt Pippa stood behind the pair and grinned at the interaction.
Before passing the trophy to Alcaraz earlier on, Kate commiserated and shook the hand of runner-up Novak Djokovic.
Dressed in a £1295 bespoke dress from Safiyaa, the royal was greeted with a standing ovation as she headed into the Royal Box at Wimbledon earlier in the day.
Before the mother-daughter duo took their seats in the Royal Box, they met with female tennis stars, including 21-year-old Emma Radacanu, who all presented Kate with a bouquet of flowers
Charlotte grinned from ear to ear as she met with the tennis star, who sadly saw her Wimbledon dream crushed on Centre Court by New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun last week.
Kate and Charlotte were also greeted by Sonay Kartal, Lily Miyazaki, Lucy Shuker and Flora Johnson as they arrived on the players’ lawn at Wimbledon before entering Centre Court.
Charlotte gave wheelchair tennis player Shuker a ‘pinky promise’ that she would try the sport alongside her mother.
Kate was also introduced to Raducanu, who was knocked out in the fourth round of this year’s championships, telling her: ‘It was so hard to see you go out.’
US Open winner Raducanu said it was ‘amazing’ to have the support of the princess and ‘see her here looking so healthy and happy’.
The daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who sported a £70 Polka Dot dress from Guess, was thrilled to meet the tennis star, and was photographed smiling ear to ear in her presence.
The mother and daughter then met the ‘Work at Wimbledon’ programme which supports young people from a range of backgrounds with roles at the Championships.
Alcaraz now has four Grand Slam trophies with a perfect record in major finals, after his two Wimbledon triumphs, his U.S. Open victory in 2022 and his French Open win last month. Defeat denied Djokovic a 25th Grand Slam title to surpass Margaret Court in the all-time list and also equal Roger Federer’s haul of eight men’s singles titles at Wimbledon.
They were without Prince George, ten, perhaps indicating he will join his father at the Euros final in Berlin this evening.
While meeting the players, Kate said Charlotte, who was wearing a navy polka dot dress, had been ‘practising yesterday’ and that tennis was ‘really great for the youngsters’.
Kate 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.’
Shuker, the highest ranked British wheelchair women’s tennis player, said: ‘She was just saying how amazing it’s been to watch and follow everyone’s career.
‘Alfie Hewett won the men’s wheelchair tennis earlier. I just asked if they were playing tennis themselves, which they have been, and then said: ‘Have you tried wheelchair tennis?’
‘And I got a little pinky promise from Princess Charlotte that she would try it.’
Shuker added: ‘For me, it’s incredibly humbling to be here and to be asked to meet the princess today.’
Discussing her meeting with Kate, Raducanu said: ‘It was very nice to see Her Royal Highness again. I’ve met her twice before, and it was really nice to meet Charlotte as well, because I hadn’t before.
‘It’s amazing to see her be such a champion of tennis and following all of us.
‘We just spoke a little bit about my tournament, and the tennis, and also how I missed last year but I was very excited to come back this year. And a little bit about her tennis because she loves it.’
Asked about Kate’s appearance at the tournament following her diagnosis, Raducanu said: ‘I think it just shows her resilience and how much of a role model she is and it’s amazing to see her here looking so healthy and happy.’
Kate has been undergoing chemotherapy and made her first public appearance since announcing her cancer diagnosis in March at the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London last month.
She did not attend the women’s singles final on Saturday, and Wimbledon chairwoman Debbie Jevans presented the trophy to Barbora Krejcikova on her behalf.
During their meeting on Sunday, Krejcikova gifted the Princess of Wales the racket she used during her victory