This year’s Wimbledon has been pretty exciting. The tennis has been great, especially on the women’s side. Ukrainian Elina Svitolina returned from maternity leave and went on a tear, picking up a title on clay, making the French Open quarterfinals and the Wimbledon semifinals, defeating the WTA #1 along the way. Ons Jabeur, a Tunisian, ran through the #2 and #3 players back-to-back – she defeated Russian-born Elena Rybakina (the reigning Wimbledon champion) in the QFs and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in a barn-burner semifinal. The women’s finalists are Marketa Vondrousova (a tricky Czech lefty) vs. Ons Jabeur.
So, THAT is the story – the tennis itself, the amazing performances of several women who raised their levels, battled through and played lights-out. That’s not how the British media has framed any of these stories though – they’ve made it all about the players’ nationalities and whether or not the Princess of Wales would be “embarrassed” to hand the trophy or plate to a Russian or Belarusian player. As I’ve said before, Kensington Palace should have shut down this story a long time ago. Instead, the royal patron of the Championships has avoided Wimbledon throughout the fortnight (except for her appearance alongside Roger Federer) and allowed the narrative to be solely framed as “Kate is much too delicate and precious to be around certain nationalities!” From the Mail:
The Princess of Wales has been saved from having to present a Wimbledon trophy to a Belarusian player linked to a key supporter of the war in Ukraine. Aryna Sabalenka, 25, who has been photographed hugging Russian president Vladimir Putin’s closest ally Alexander Lukashenko, was knocked out of the tournament yesterday. But there was also heartbreak for Ukrainian wildcard Elina Svitolina, 28, as her fairytale run ended in a straight set loss.
Their defeats ended the prospect of the ladies’ final tomorrow seeing a Ukrainian face a Belarusian in what would have been a highly-charged match.
All eyes are now on Spanish hunk Carlos Alcaraz today as he takes on Daniil Medvedev, the last Russian standing at Wimbledon, for a place in the men’s final. Alcaraz, a 20-year-old prodigy, is favourite to take down the 6ft 6in world number three and prevent Kate having to be photographed with an athlete from an aggressor nation.
The princess presents the winners’ trophies, and having to hand one to a Belarusian or Russian would prove a diplomatic embarrassment for Britain.
Deep sigh – “having to hand one to a Belarusian or Russian would prove a diplomatic embarrassment for Britain.” She literally handed the Venus Rosewater Dish to a Russian last year, you fools. Granted, I’m not minimizing the charged political atmosphere of a potential final between a Ukrainian and a Belarusian. But it didn’t happen, and it’s bizarre to see the situation framed as “thank god, Kate doesn’t have to stand next to Aryna Sabalenka!”
Anyway, good luck to Ons Jabeur and good luck to Daniil Medvedev. I absolutely want a Russian player in the men’s final.
Understatement: the @wimbledon organizers are not eager for the optics of Princess of Wales presenting the trophy to a player from Belarus. (Nor of a Ukrainian and Belarusian playing a final and declining to pose together before the prematch coin toss, etc.) #Wimbledon
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) July 12, 2023
Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images, Avalon Red.
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- London United Kingdom 10/07/2021 DESCRIPTION The Duke of Kent and the Kate the Duchess of Cambridge seen at the ladies final at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club, London, United Kingdom,,Image: 620818194, 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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- Ons Jabeur (Tun) receiving trophy from Kate Middleton in the women’s final at Wimbledon,Image: 706194391, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Catherine, Princess of Wales taking her seat in the Royal box at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships Day Two at the All England Club, London, United Kingdom,,Image: 787118930, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights, Model Release: no, Credit line: Peter van den Berg / Avalon
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- Catherine, Princess of Wales taking her seat in the Royal box at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships Day Two at the All England Club, London, United Kingdom,,Image: 787123155, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights, Model Release: no, Credit line: Peter van den Berg / Avalon
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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**
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- The Princess of Wales, Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, arrives for day two of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 04 Jul 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales, Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, arrives for day two of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 04 Jul 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales, Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, arrives for day two of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 04 Jul 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
I really think they are setting her up with this rubbish for somewhere down the road with she is not fit to be queen because she is to precious to be seen with certain persons. Queen Elisabeth never had a problem being in the company of all types of people she may not have liked them all but she did her duty.
Including bestowing an honorary knighthood on the notorious Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Not QE2’s finest hour.
That’s right. They are meant to be non-political. She needs a course from someone in the diplomatic corps, to learn that when you have a job to do you just to do that job without letting your personal feelings get in the way of that task. You smile, even when you don’t feel like smiling. If she is not able to perform a simple task like presenting a trophy to someone, she does not particularly care for then she is not queen material..
We have a future queen that is ‘too delicate’ to stand next to ‘certain people’ but is supposed to be the ‘secret weapon’ of the royals.
I’m caught between laughing hysterically and rolling my eyes.
To save all this “embarrassment” in the future, Kate should resign as patron and someone who actually cares should present the trophies. Like Tom Hiddleston
As fun as it might be to watch Keen squirm, I don’t like that Russian players are at Wimbledon in the first place. I know the political situation isn’t the players’ fault but it’s important to send a message.
The Russians have been at every other tournament. Why must Wimbledon be the exception?
Probably because they banned Russians from last year’s tournament. The war is still ungoing, so why are Russians welcome this year?
Kaiser talked about that somewhat in this post:
https://www.celebitchy.com/810354/princess_kate_will_hand_out_wimbledon_trophies_regardless_of_players_nationalities/
It seems wimbledon was stripped of its ranking points for banning russian players and no other tournament banned them, I think. (I do not follow tennis at all lol.)
@Emily, what is the message that should be sent? This is not the Olympics, the players are not representing their countries at the grand slams, they’re playing for themselves and for prize money.
i understand the message that people want to send, but players who state they are NEUTRAL should NOT be punished for the wrongdoings of their government. these are individuals that train at elite levels for years and work hard to maintain their rankings. this war is out of their control and switching citizenship OR speaking out against the war on a national stage is not always an option bc of their family. If private citizens are all held to the standard of their government’s wrongdoing, there would be a lot of banned players at a lot of events around the world.
Strongly agree, well put.
No disrespect intended but we are talking war crimes being committed against civilians. You don’t get to claim to be neutral. You either say nothing which is a choice or you do the right thing & speak out. The claim they are worried about their families, which is legitimate, should have them at the very least disavow playing under the Russian flag, yet they still do every tournament save this one as Wimbledon refuses to allow the Russian flag. It sounds a little like the “I was only following orders” argument. Yes these athletes aren’t responsible for Putin’s atrocities but if they remain quiet they are complicit. As for their families, you can leave Russia at any time & most of these athletes are of means. If one is concerned about their family they can help them leave, Medvedev lives in Monaco, yet he at no time has admonished “his government” while he plays a game & lives in the playgrounds of millionaires.
This is about Russians be allowed to play sports while their country is committing war crimes during an unprovoked military siege. Every single player can renounce what Russian is doing but oddly not a single one has. Putin is committing war crimes on a daily basis but hey they’re not responsible so let them play tennis. NO, their silence is complicity & all Russian & Belarusian players & teams should be banned from sports across the board until Russia stops their illegal actions
Snappyfish, if they speak out and their families are killed, then what?
All I can see is those nipplebuttons. Sheesh.
I hope Medvedev gets to the final.
So all this “relief” over the player from Belarus being knocked out but there’s still a Russian man in the semi-finals so Kate still might have to hand the trophy to a Russian after all?
Anyway this is all such a bad look for Kate, I don’t know why KP hasn’t shut this down. Maybe they like the image of Kate needing to be coddled and protected etc, but it comes off as infantilizing her.
Kate is so irrelevant to tennis and the fact that it is still being discussed by the media is ridiculous.
She’s perfectly fine with going to the Jordanian wedding as if they are not messy themselves.
I also hope Medvedev makes it to the final for this reason. I don’t think he can beat Novak but the person who hands out the trophy is the least relevant person.
W and k make an absolute mockery of being royal. They want all the money and the publicity but do nothing much except pander to their own whims. It is a joke that is not at all funny. Tough as nails ,mean girl K does not have a delicate bone in her being. She does what she wants and nothing else. Is it an insult that she is expected to work for her money and lavish lifestyle and show that she is acutually interested in the poor people she bores to tears and the poor children that she frightens
A diplomatic embarrassment for Britain? Abolish the monarchy & Britain won’t have this problem.
I hate how they’re trying to take the moment from the players and making it about KKKate’s photo-op.
I also hate how they’ve been demonizing Sabalenka. Yes she’s been photographed with Lukashenko, but that was before the war started.
Oh bless her little cotton socks ,
Calling Aryna Sabalenka “a Belarusian player linked to a key supporter of the war in Ukraine” is massively unfair to her. Sabalenka is a great champion, one of the most interesting players in tennis at the moment in my opinion. She’s repeatedly expressed her support for ending the war in Ukraine and spoke against Lukashenko, which is a big deal if you are Belarusian and your family still lives there. It’s easy to judge from the sidelines but this is not a simple black-and-white situation. The way I see it, Sabalenka is a professional athlete, a young woman who’s trying to do the best she can in a difficult situation. I find it in poor taste to refer to her in this way, as if she is some kind of evil force poor Kate Middleton has to be protected from.
Kate Middleton chose to pursue and marry into a family that has caused atrocities in the name of empire (and recent enough see Kenya). She parades around in stolen jewels and spends money provided by others. She also has not problem playing nice with heads of state who don’t run democracies so that she can wear sparkly dresses and tiaras.
Sabalenka was born in a country that is run by an authoritarian leader and has no power to determine how the Belarusian government is run.
The demonization of a tennis player who earns money for her family versus a social climber who purposefully sought to become the future consort of the head of state is really ridiculous. If anyone is a victim here it’s sabalenka. Kate has been the clout chaser and could not care less about politics.
Well said, Nic919. Every damn word.
Bravo 👏 well stated.
Maybe if she can’t handle being respectful neutral to the athletes participating in the competition she needs to step down, she is not someone who cares or follows political events that much is obvious by her comments and behavior at charity visits. These articles are just plain gross these women and men are professionals world athletes the BRF and rags should try acting professional and respectful for a change especially when the patron they put forth probably can’t find Russia or Belarus on a map or carry on an informed conversation on the current events going. Just smile and hand over the trophy 🏆 Katie…that is not to difficult. The rags need to stop acting like Britain will fall if the wrong country wins🙄.
I wish you didn’t have such a flippant attitude about Russian athletes. They are deeply entwined with the Russian government and its leader, so letting them prance around international tournaments while the regime they have helped legitimize is committing war crimes is disgusting. I get that you like tennis but have some sense of decency.
I wonder why precious Katy is so upset at potential handing the trophy to a Belarusian/Russian woman but nothing about the Russian born man playing in the semi final.
Maybe its because of the Russian lawyer allegations (allegedly)
This embiggening of Kate is so ridiculous. She is the wife of a future head of state, ceremonial, but still. Being in the company of people who may have different position is part of the job. Since these players are being let in to compete, Kate needs to put on the big girl panties and do her job as patron. If she, or KP, can’t deal she needs to resign.
She literally sought this position too. It’s not even a situation of the second born suddenly becoming head of state.
All I can take from the headline that “Kate was saved”, who is going to save US from this lazy, airhead clothes horse?
Bigots gonna bigot.
It seems to me that Kate interests in these tournaments, begin and end with Roger . She is shameless.
This whole notion is ridiculous, but they’re royal reporters, not sports writers. And since the whole idea of a “royal expert” or even royal reporter is ridiculous, I will not be surprised by any level of absurdity they sink to. I find it hard to understand to what extent you have to silo yourself mentally to even write anything about a woman who seems to be totally uninteresting.
If you have to be “neutral” on most issues, then the danger is that you are going to appear vacuous. It helps if you are vacuous to begin with.
This is actually the first time I’ve seen evidence of fillers in Kate’s face. In the picture of her in the yellow dress handing out the trophy to that player, the curve of her cheek is showing an oddly pronounced formation. At first, I thought it could be the application of her blush but then the outline showed an obvious change in the curvature. It looks like some foreign object in her face.
I wonder how many times in future this will happen–not with Russia or Belarus, but any country? Are they setting everyone up so that this child won’t be at state receptions or dinners with world leaders? What’s the end game here?