The Middleton family loves Roger Federer. I suspect that Carole Middleton is in love with Roger, and maybe her daughters are in love with him too. They were fans for a long time, but the Middletons absolutely pursued a closer relationship with Federer over the years, and that paid off in different ways. The Federer family has had playdates with the Cambridges. Mirka Federer (Roger’s wife) has given friends-and-family Wimbledon tickets to the Middletons. Roger and Mirka attended Pippa Middleton’s wedding. And now this! Roger is bringing his signature exhibition event, Laver Cup, to London in September. That much has been known for a year. The announcement which came today is that this year’s Laver Cup will give charitable contributions to two of Kate’s patronages. From the Lawn Tennis Association’s press release:
The Duchess of Cambridge and Roger Federer, on behalf of the Laver Cup, have announced a charitable collaboration in aid of two organisations of which The Duchess is Patron – Action for Children and the LTA, whose charitable arm is the LTA Tennis Foundation.
All proceeds raised from tickets to the Laver Cup Open Practice Day, which will take place on Thursday 22 September at The O2 in London, will be split between the two charities. Tickets to the Open Practice Day, which will give fans the chance to watch Roger Federer and other superstars of Team Europe and Team World take their final practice on-court, go on sale on Monday 22 August.
Ahead of the Open Practice Day, the collaboration will also see The Laver Cup host a day of tennis in East London for children supported by Action for Children and young people from the local area who are part of the LTA SERVES programme.
The Laver Cup is committed to supporting community initiatives impacting young people in each city it visits and the collaboration with Action for Children and the LTA was initiated by a recommendation from The Duchess. Her Royal Highness is passionate about supporting grassroots tennis and encouraging young people from all backgrounds to become involved in the sport.
The day of tennis in East London will provide children aged 8-15 with a memorable and engaging tennis experience whilst the Laver Cup is in London and will provide an opportunity to celebrate the charitable collaboration. It will be attended by The Duchess and Roger Federer, Laver Cup co-founder, and one of the greatest male tennis players of all time.
I mean… it’s a decent combo. It’s nice that Federer is partnering with the LTA and with British charities when he brings Laver Cup to town. It’s fine that Kate is getting credit for somehow suggesting these charitable partnerships. I mostly think Kate was just looking for an excuse to show up to every day of the Laver Cup action. She completely skipped Wimbledon’s lovely centenary event during the Championships, which I still think was one of the laziest things she’s ever done in her long history of being a lazy a–hole. Maybe this is how Kate makes good with the LTA – she will graciously gawk at Roger, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic during Laver Cup. Seriously though, the Big Four are reuniting for Team Europe this year!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- Jul 7, 2021; London, [ENTER STATE], United Kingdom; Roger Federer (SUI) seen playing in the quarter finals of the Wimbledon championship agains Hubert Hurkacz (POL) in possibly his final centre court appearance,Image: 620236104, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Peter van den Berg / Avalon
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- Roger Federer (Sui),Image: 620264521, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic / Panoramic / Avalon
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- FEDERER Roger, tennis player, invited by Mercedes AMG F1 Team, portrait, during the Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Premio de Espana 2022, 6th round of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship, on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, from May 20 to 22, 2022 in Montmelo, Spain -,Image: 693456312, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: 00122015, Model Release: no, Credit line: DPPI / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Former Champion Roger Federer seen on Centenary day on Centre Court at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club, London, United Kingdom,,Image: 704765154, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights, Model Release: no, Credit line: Peter van den Berg / Avalon
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- Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, watching Novak Djokovic (SRB) playing his quarter finals men’s singles match against Jannik Sinner (ITA) on Centre court at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club, London, United Kingdom,,Image: 705268604, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights, Model Release: no, Credit line: Peter van den Berg / Avalon
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- Kate, Duchess of Cambridge and William, Duke of Cambridge watching Novak Djokovic (SRB) playing his quarter finals men’s singles match against Jannik Sinner (ITA) on Centre court at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club, London, United Kingdom,,Image: 705268624, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights, Model Release: no, Credit line: Peter van den Berg / Avalon
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- Catherine Middleton (Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge),Image: 706194260, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Catherine Middleton (Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge),Image: 706194273, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic / Panoramic / Avalon
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Celebrities attend Wimbledon 2022. Pictured: Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 9 JULY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Celebrities attend Wimbledon 2022. Pictured: Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 9 JULY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends The Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 10, 2022 in London, England. Pictured: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 10 JULY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Attends The Women’s Final 2022 Wimbledon Championships at the AELTC in London, UK, Featuring: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 09 Jul 2022 Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ABACA/INSTARima/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
I was trying to remember but did Kate ever go to the ATP finals when it was in London? I know Pippa went a few times but I can’t remember Kate ever going and she’s supposed to be a big tennis fan. Btw, I believe it was Tim Henman who introduced the Middletons to Roger.
3rd pic : Looks like KKKHate just farted and Bulliam got a whiff 💨
Actually I think that ones looks like her wiglets are making a break for it.
@hannah
I was thinking the same thing, great minds think alike.
Honestly, for someone who is rich (though he never worked a day in his sorry life), and he’s got his health too, why does William always look like he’s so constipated? I mean, he’s the walking, talking embodiment of Gerwin’s song from Porgy and Bess: “Your daddy’s rich and your ma is good-looking, so hush little baby, don’t you cry.” I know one can’t always be happy but he’s not exactly working down at the coalmines, he’s watching other people run around and play tennis (and he didn’t even have to pay for the tickets)! Enjoy it, you sap.
When in September is William going to NYC?
Let’s hope the money goes directly to the charities and is not funnelled through the Royal Foundation….
Say goodbye $$$$
@Hench my first thought exactly
This is a great initiative and I’m not going to knock that.
What I question is how much credit Katie Keen can honestly claim here. She ‘recommended’ the charities. My guess is Roger or someone asked – having planned to do this – and she came back (after a staffer did some thinking) with these names.
She will slap her name on it and do nothing just like she did for the Hold Still photo project.
Outside of photos ops with Roger. She will do a few of those.
Well I am a big fan of Roger Federer and I have watched with dismay how the Middleton’s have used their royal connections to reel Roger in. I think he likes being on friendly terms with British royals but apart from that I cannot think that he has much in common with Kate and William. He would probably have more in common with Harry and Meghan. Roger takes his charities in African countries very seriously and would have a lot in common with what Harry does with schoolchildren and Sentebale.
Kate is just piggy backing on to this, the money would have gone to those charities anyway. But it also gives the Laver Cup a bit more publicity having Kate grinning all over the place.
Surprised they’re announcing it this far in advance. Usually these type of things are embargoed. Guess they want people to know they’re doing stuff in September as well, and directly fundraising for specific charities, instead of the Royal Foundation umbrella. Wonder what could have motivated this announcement? But seriously, the Keens working and doing appearances should be par for the course, instead of treated like unicorn sightings. They’ll probably blame certain people for making them need to start working in summer or announcing plans in advance.
Whew. That header photo of her is quite something. Her tan is tanning and the skin is leathery. Bill’s nose looks like a penis. What a pair.
It’s about time she raises funds for the needy. All I hear is smiles and word salads and cosplays and bringing a dozen of homemade brownies and top ceo stuff without doing anything real. This is something to be proud of. She needs partnerships to be effective bcz she probably wont be able to raise significant amounts without them… it’d be too embarrassing. But way to go, i like this.
I often wonder at how effective these “let’s have the poor kids play tennis for a day” charities really are. It’s an expensive sport and unless they have bursaries and scholarships most kids won’t have a real chance at getting the teaching and training they would need to do anything with this. Raducanu’s parents aren’t poor and if you look at most of the backgrounds of the elite players, most of them have parents who are solidly middle class, if not more.
@Nic919
This was my thought, as well. What exactly are the charities/children getting out of this? Playing tennis for a day is great, but not exactly worth donating a bunch of money for, especially if they can’t continue the sport afterwards. Like Kate, this initiative seems shallow and not well thought out. Hopefully, I’m just misunderstanding and the kids get something more substantial out of these charity endeavors.
I know nothing of these charities & I’m too lazy to google, but I’m assuming they have year-round programs supporting the not-rich kids in tennis & that this tournament is a big fundraiser/awareness gig that they do yearly for those programs.
More fun events for Kate, I wonder if she will bring George.
Federer and this event will likely bring in money so I’m glad the charities are getting it. Seems smart to partner up with people and make connections.
It just hit me that when Kate was somewhat certain of her position with William, she didn’t care about doing so much work; her patronages were closing up left, right and she just wasn’t bothered! However, lately, she seems to have started feeling the need to put it more work as it’s becoming clearer that her position is untenable. She wants to come across as bringing something to the table now- and on her own! She’s making it clear this is not any Royal Foundation operation that would imply being in conjunction with William. It’s as if she sees the writing on the wall and wants the public to view her more favorably, ahead of whatever is coming. I think Kate is worried!
It smells like networking to launder money into your failing foundation to me…
This is a good endeavour and something she should have been doing from a long time ago since they’ve been close with the Federers for so long. The BM will fall all over themselves to laud and adulate her without pointing out these things just weren’t being done before Meghan but ah well.