One of my favorite conspiracies of the month is that Wimbledon smoked out the Princess of Wales and that’s why Kate suddenly appeared at Trooping the Colour. Just days before Trooping, Wimbledon’s tournament director was asked about their royal patron and what would happen if Kate isn’t around to hand out the men’s singles trophy or the women’s Venus Rosewater Dish. Wimbledon’s director was basically like: we wish Kate well and her priority should be her recovery, so we’re making contingency plans. Two seconds after Kate made her grand return to the public stage, Katie Nicholl was like: the next time we see Kate will probably be Wimbledon. It would have looked bad if Kate disappeared for six-plus months and her first event back was “watching tennis.” That’s why the Trooping appearance had to happen. So, yes, I do think we’ll see Kate at Wimbledon, which starts on Monday. As it turns out though, there are still contingency plans in place:
Wimbledon are hopeful that the Princess of Wales will be able to present trophies to the men’s and women’s singles champions after making a return to public life by attending the Trooping of the Colour earlier this month.
All England Club chair Debbie Jevans told Telegraph Sport that they will give her “as much flexibility as possible” as she continues her treatment for cancer, which could involve delaying a decision on who will present the trophies until the morning of the finals next month.
The Princess made her first public appearance this year at the Trooping of the Colour earlier this month following her emotional revelation in March that she is being treated for cancer. While her recovery remains ongoing, Royal sources have indicated that she would like to attend Wimbledon if possible. Although the All England Club have not formalised alternative plans for the trophy presentation, their options would include another member of the Royal Household or Jevans herself, as chair of the club and former player at Wimbledon.
“We’re hopeful that the Princess of Wales will be able to present the trophies as the Club’s patron, but her health and recovery is the priority,” Jevans said. “We don’t know what we don’t know. All we’ve said is that we’ll work with her and give her as much flexibility as possible. I don’t know who would present the trophies as an alternative – that’s something to consider nearer the time if necessary. We’re staying flexible. When we hear we’ll then think about what’s the right thing to do.”
Jevans is expecting to extend an invitation to the finals to a new Prime Minister, given the state of the polls, following next week’s general election, but insists she remains open-minded regarding her own voting intentions. With the mens’ final clashing with the final of the European Championship on July 14, however, whether Keir Starmer would attend is likely to depend on England’s progress in Germany given his love of football. “The Prime Minister always has an invitation so if he wanted to come of course we’d welcome him,” Jevans said. “They’re both big football fans so it may depend on how England are doing.”
Re: prime ministers going to Wimbledon, there was an infamous moment at Wimbledon 2016, just after the Brexit vote, where David Cameron attended the men’s final, where Andy Murray won his second Wimbledon title. Andy gave Cameron a shout-out in his victory speech – Andy was actually quite apolitical and just thanked Cameron for coming out and said that being prime minister must be a tough job – and the entire Wimbledon crowd booed David Cameron. It was spectacular. As for Waity, my prediction is that she skips the first week of the fortnight but makes a few appearances in the second week. Then she’ll skip the women’s final, but she’ll be magically healed for the men’s final. All of this is dependent on if and when Roger Federer is there. That being said… it will likely be Andy Murray’s last Wimbledon. Will Kate show up for Muzz? Hm.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.