On the Fourth of July, Andy Murray played his final match at Wimbledon. The Scotsman was the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years. He won Wimbledon twice, and he picked up gold and silver medals on Centre Court at the London Olympics. Wimbledon gave Andy an incredibly emotional ceremony on Centre Court, with a lovely video package and some of the other legends of the sport coming out to pay their respect. Sue Barker even came out of retirement to interview Andy. You know who couldn’t be bothered though? Wimbledon’s royal patron, the Princess of Wales. I still remember when she skipped Wimbledon’s lovely centenary event in 2022 too. Well, two days after Andy’s retirement, Kate posted this on Twitter:
An incredible #Wimbledon career comes to an end. You should be so very proud @andy_murray. On behalf of all of us, thank you! C
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 6, 2024
To be fair, someone on KP’s social media staff also posted something on the 4th on their IG Stories. I’ll also be fair to Kate about this: Andy was supposed to play a mixed doubles match on Saturday with Emma Raducanu but Emma pulled out, and maybe Kate originally intended to come out for that. While I understand that Kate is still going through cancer treatments…what was her excuse for skipping the centenary event in 2022? It’s like the royal patron makes a point of skipping the biggest moments for Wimbledon and British tennis. Anyway, the Daily Beast had this comment from a friend-of-Kate:
Hopes are high that Kate might stage a dramatic return to the Royal Box, on Centre Court, a week on Sunday for the highlight of the week—the men’s final—and present the winning trophy.
A friend of Kate and William’s told The Daily Beast: “It is no secret that she would dearly love to be there, but when you are having chemo, as she herself said, there are good days and bad days. A lot depends on the timing of the treatments. She made [it] to Trooping the Color so if she can make Wimbledon, she will.”
No mention of the women’s final on Saturday, which I predicted – if Kate comes out, it will probably only be the men’s final. Also: there are no British players left in the singles draw, but there are several Russians and Russians-who-play-for-Kazakhstan. It’s possible that she’s waiting to see if any Russians make it to the finals before she makes her decision, because God knows, she’s too delicate-yet-important to present a trophy to a Russian.
Here’s Andy Murray’s Centre Court ceremony:
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Tom Cruise with Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff,Image: 620944001, 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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- Roger Federer and Catherine, Princess of Wales. Roger Federer was presented to the fans as he took his seat in the Royal box at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships Day Two at the All England Club, London, United Kingdom,,Image: 787119105, 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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- Kate, Duchess of Cambridge prepares to present the trophies for the womens’ final on Day 13 at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club, London, UK, 15 July 2023,Image: 789315138, 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 speaks to India Caddy Guest Services Host on day thirteen 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: 15 Jul 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit on day thirteen 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: 15 Jul 2023 Credit: Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
I know bugger all about tennis, but I thought it was disgusting how all the British tabloids criticised Emma Raducanu for pulling out of her doubles match with Andy Murray. The guy is at the end of his career and she had a wrist injury that she wanted to treat properly for her next match – with her entire career ahead of her? The public moaning and self-pity from Andy Murray and his mum (!!) were off the charts…how awful for Emma. Sexist BS from the heart of sports, tale as old as time (see also: William and how he will crawl over broken glass for male football players but the women footballers get the cold shoulder)
As for Kate, this is how it’s going to be for her now. She has made it crystal clear. If it’s something she doesn’t want to do, it’s a “bad day,” like bread and butter engagements. If it’s “something that brings her joy,” then it’s magically a good day where her “doctors” give her the “go ahead.” For the rest of the time that she’s part of the RF she has a Get Out Of Jail Free card and she’s going to use it. In fairness, married to William I’d be doing the same….
Andy Murray has always been a champion of women players, especially for Serena and Venus.
@Megan Facts and that made me really like him and become a fan. Andy Murray also defended other female tennis players from unfair criticism. I was sad to hear he’s retiring (not surprised though) and hope his post tennis career is equally successful. Also hope he does well at the Olympics!
Then he should probably get his mum to stop talking trash about Emma on social media? He had a great career and should retire gracefully instead of boo-hooing his man tears about not having his mixed doubles final victory lap all over the British tabloids IMO. He could shut all that criticism of Emma down in a hot minute if he wanted…if he was such a great supporter of women players…just saying
But even Wimbledon is calling the men’s final the ‘highlight of the week’, even though it’s the same week as the women’s (‘ladies’, per Wimbledon).
@Lady Esther says:
“As for Kate, this is how it’s going to be for her now. She has made it crystal clear. If it’s something she doesn’t want to do, it’s a “bad day,” like bread and butter engagements. If it’s “something that brings her joy,” then it’s magically a good day where her “doctors” give her the “go ahead.”
Um…..no. That bixtch has no say in what she does or doesnt do in The Firm.
I dont think folks are paying close attention to some of what is unwittingly being revealed about whats really going on with kitty.
First of all, that woman has no agency…..the same as all the married-ins into that Firm.
– See: Princess Diana, how she suffered in silence about her abuse (until she secretly told-all in her interview and the book written on her behalf.)
– See also fergie……….need I say more
– See also how they haul-and-pull sofiesta who lost all semblance of self-respect ever since she was caught on tape dissing betty and her husband back in the 90s.
– See how they tried to kill Meghan’s spirit until her husband took themselves and their family out of that cult.
And see kitty. She who remained a blank slate upon which the brits could write their desires for the perfect queen-in-waiting: first of all the Firm exerted its control over her to ensure that there wouldnt be a second Diana. This meant, in the first instance, erasing any semblance of a personality that she might have had. Then they controlled every aspect of her life: friends, mode of dress, where she could and couldnt go……………..so that the only control kitty had was the bulimia she gave herself.
And now, the cancer:…………..she is in control in so far as she can use the story of her having cancer to: negotiate the terms of her separation/divorce; demand royal protection for her parents; and the ultimate demand: when and where she makes an appearance for “royal work.”
kitty has learned a thing or 2 from the world’s biggest con artists……..the BRF.
This is my post. Dont know how it came out as “anonymous” when I input my nic & email.
Good take @Kingston makes a perfect sense to me
I called this one wrong. I thought Kate’s grifter deadbeat parents wouldn’t show up at Wimbledon without her, needing the excuse of supporting their beloved ill daughter. I guess after getting the royal seal of approval at Ascot, they are back to complete shamelessness.
I can’t imagine how bad the dirt they have on William is. Kate is certainly not a perfect victim but her mother has sold her out again and again for status and it looks like it worked this time as well (assuming William’s secret involves poor treatment of Kate), at least for now.
The sun is so bright at Wimbledon and the hoi polloi are so near; what would they see that makeup, distance, and photoshop can’t hide.
Excellent point.
Totally agree
Idk, she would wear a huge hat. If she doesn’t attend the men’s final, I’m willing to believe she is genuinely ill.
Since when did Kate become a “victim”? Perfect or otherwise. Did I miss something?
I think this is a reference to William’s “bad temper,” “pillow throwing,” his physical attack on Harry, and the huge new scar on her face visible in the less-airbrushed pics from Trooping.
The parents will appear when she does probably.
They already have — they appeared without her.
I’m going to hazard a guess and say it will depend on whether England reaches the final of the Euros. If William goes to the Euros I think he’ll take George and Kate will attend Wimbledon with Charlotte.
What will be REALLY interesting is to see which Spanish royal attends the event. If (as I believe) Spain makes the final in the Euros and Carlos the Wimbledon final I can’t see Kate being too impressed at Queen Letiza (and one of her daughters) turning up in the royal box. 😆
Kate is very male-focused and would be fine if it was King Felipe. (To be fair, Felipe is very handsome and has lovely manners.) It would depend on schedules though, Felipe has a full schedule and sometimes he can’t reschedule stuff on the fly.
Oh, but Kate doesn’t know him. Totally cold-shouldered him at some event in France.
I would say Can’t and Won’t are BOTH very male focused 🤣
Interesting thought about Queen Letizia. She is so beautiful, and Kate would have to curtsy to her, I don’t think Kate will feel up to it if Letizia is going to be there.
So the appearance of both Fed and Ben Ainslie in the stands couldn’t flush Kate out of her lair?
But she can travel miles and miles for chocolate?
I’m not buying whatever they’re trying to sell us.
But one thing is clear: the monarchy as an institution does very well without Kate — and the UK would do even better without the BaRF/ monarchy.
I do find it interesting that while Kate is supposedly the young, glamorous one, Anne is the one people actually admire. Royalists may be shallow but they’re not *that* shallow, they can still see that being pretty isn’t enough to compensate for not doing any work.
I think William needs her more than the BRF as a whole need her. He’s charmless, socially awkward and unattractive, he benefits from having a glamorous consort, just like Harry was a major asset as his wingman. Losing his wingman was a major blow, if he eventually chooses to ditch his consort as well his popularity will nosedive.
Anne is not widely admired. She’s a well known racist and elitist snob
@Sunny, that wouldn’t disqualify her, in royalist circles; to the contrary, it could be seen as evidence that she’s true blue.
I don’t think harry was happy being wingman. Harry told of wills bad disposition in spare. Will wanted harry to be scapegoat
They are setting up the narrative that she’s not going to turn up to the matches this week but at the men’s final on Sunday – as I said on the other thread she’s just as sexist as Peggy, she will make the effort for the men’s game but not the womens.
Am calling she turns up at the men’s final on Sunday – sat next to Federer with her whole family sat close by in the royal box. Expect her parents and siblings to be papped at games the rest of this week.
Of course she’s sexist. She went to university to get a MRS degree. She willfully accepts that her role is dressing demurely and looking pretty and staying thin. She’s never had any ambitions beyond being a mute smiling Stepford Wife.
Though to be fair to her grifting parents they encouraged their son to marry into money as well as their daughters. They’re equal opportunities grifters.
I really do wonder if there is something else wrong with Kate or she’s making excuses. It just seems like something is off considering Charles can do so many events but Kate can’t attend a garden party for five minutes.
There are many types of cancer treatments, some are harder on the body than others.
I strongly suspect Charles is having immunotherapy or some kind of modern targeted therapy. Those tend to have much less severe side effects than chemotherapy. If Kate is having old school scorched earth adjuvant chemotherapy that would certainly have more severe side effects.
That said she didn’t just look well at Trooping, she looked amazing, so I have no idea what to believe.
Also, not everybody reacts the same to chemo or shows exact same symptoms when having cancer.
I lost a dear friend to cancer barely weeks after having visited him in chemo. He looked as usual but for the loss of hair, while other patients looked anything from normal to actually very ill.
My friend ran errands on his own until the same day he passed, since he was supposed to travel to Spain two days later for treatment. Went to embassy and travel agency, sold his house, moved out, went shopping for winter gear etc. He collapsed in a restaurant in front of his gf and kid, was rushed to hospital and pronounced dead upon arrival. Yes you could tell he was sick, but he certainly didn’t show he was actually on his throes.
That’s why I’ve restrained from calling Kate lazy or accusing her of faking an illness. For all we know, she could be actually trying to fake for dear life that she’s so much better than she really is.
Obviously cancer is going to affect each person differently and the courses of treatment are going to be different as well, so its hard to do a direct comparison between Charles and Kate.
A month ago I would have said (and did say) that I thought it likely Kate’s cancer was a lot more severe/serious/later stage than KP was letting on, but she looked well enough at Trooping, if a little tired, so I’m not sure at this point.
I enjoy the retrospective with all her Wimbledon outfits over the years. I actually really like the bright yellow dress on her, but the pink one was awful. In the short-sleeved lime suit, it’s not that the suit itself is bad, it’s actually kind of interesting, but it makes her look very brittle somehow. The mint suit with the white lapels is blatant Princess Diana cosplay!
What I don’t understand about this chemo is as I understand it it is done at set intervals and she should now be able to work out when the next bout is and for how long it will make her feel unwell. I would have thought by now she should be able to work it out. Correct me if I am wrong.
One of my good friends had stage 1 womb cancer (she’s all clear now) and had a hysterectomy to remove it – they got almost all of it but she got chemo treatments afterwards to kill a few remaining cells that the surgery didn’t get. That lasted about 6 weeks and while her employer gave her the time off she could still live her life – the treatment made her tired but that passed.
I think whatever treatment she had was over and done with months ago and they’ve been using the treatment as cover for her laziness AND to negotiate the terms of a separation or ‘you can’t divorce me I’m a cancer survivor’ deal. Given how pleased Carole looked with herself at Ascot and Wimbledon, they used Kate’s health to stall a divorce announcement or him starting proceedings. The Mids may have won this round of the battle but they have not yet won the war – the press and public are not on Kate’s side given how her sudden refreshed appearance at Trooping was received. They (the Middletons) have over played their PR hand as always. Kate was NOT missed.
Spot on @DU. I’ve known people whose cancer treatments were relatively easy, short and effective. I’ve also known people whose cancer treatments were brutal and long, and they looked every bit as sick as they felt. Kate’s “still receiving cancer treatment” excuse doesn’t hold water and it’s clear she and her parents are in a standoff with William about the separation. Each side seems to be giving a bit but each side also has a sh*t ton of kompromat on each other so the negotiations are ongoing.
That’s what I was thinking, @sunnyside up. Both my late parents went through many rounds of scheduled chemotherapy. After a while, you get to know when you are going to feel like crap and when you won’t, relative to the timing of the infusion. Fairly predictable, although there could be an exception—all of us have good days and bad days.
That picture of the yellow dress reminded me how much I missed seeing the wiglet. That’s all I got.
That was an ENORMOUS wiglet with the bright yellow dress. I think that’s from when Kate went completely off the rails trying to copy Meghan’s darker and parted straight hair and sophisticated dresses. It was a blessed relief from the sister wives drag, button bonanza coat dresses and lacy doily dresses though.
I think she will show up at the men’s final. And I agree with other people that her parents will definitely be attend at least one other match this week.
She was never going to show up to Wimbledon the same week the others were in Scotland and she tends to only show up the second week anyway. But I do think she will go to the men’s final.
I do find these stories basically hyping up whether or not she goes to a tennis match to be a bit overdone. She adds nothing to it and the theme dressing of either being in green or yellow as a tennis ball seems childish.
Right? ‘She’d dearly love to go’? So would a lot of people, but it’s crazy hard to get tickets & you have to stand in line forever & a day. It’s recreation! For her it is, this pretense of work is revolting, it truly is. Try being a checker at Kmart while undergoing cancer treatment, as my mother did.
She didn’tbshow up for the Andy Murray tribute bc she wouldn’t be the center of attention.
I bet the BRF does something like knighting Murray to celebrate his career instead of joining in the celebrations other Orgs/people have planned
Sir Andy was knighted in 2016 and, because of his hip injury/surgery, had the ceremony some time later at Bucks House.
Men’s final can last up to 4 hours, so will she sit through the entire match or just sweep out to briefly present the prizes? Also if chemotherapy is ongoing surely she can’t sit in the Royal Box with the hoi polloi due to compromised immunity?
Thank you Lady Digby for pointing out what should be obvious. Lingering chemo side effects plus compromised immunity mean she really should stay home.
This poor woman may well be dying-the abdominal involvement is the red flag for me-and even her own PR team doesn’t have her back. We don’t know the whole truth and it’s really none of our business.
Everybody leave her alone, including the Royals themselves!…full stop.
Just the way the DB and the BM write about it feels off. Will Kate stage a dramatic return to Wimbledon!? It feels artificial and contrived. A woman returning after having cancer shouldn’t be described as staging a comeback.
That’s how they wrote about it, staging a comeback? She’s not a player, she’s just a spectator!
No one is tuning into Wimbledon to see her. So everyone will survive her absence.
It’s ToTC all over again – will she won’t she and then the outcry will lead to her saying ‘oh ok then’.
Kate will be there at both finals I suspect. The backlash will be too great if she just turned up to the mens.
Backlash means nothing to her. This is the woman who chose to bail on a 100+ yo tradition of presenting shamrocks to the Irish Guards. Just because she could.
THIS is one of the most obnoxious things she’s ever done IMO and shows clearly how she despises work that comes with the position. She had KP state that she didn’t want it to be expected that she would show up every year! It’s awful how little respect she gives unless her feet are to the fire.
I don’t think she will turn up unless it’s for matches she personally wants to see.
People on chemo have really compromised immune systems and one of the most dangerous things you can do is be in crowds. She was very isolated at Trooping. At Wimbledon she would be really exposed. I’m not a particular fan of hers, but I’m a fan of showing compassion.
When so many people don’t believe she has cancer? I’m one of those people.
If she’s (still?) on chemo I’m an elk.
That is what is so weird about Charles. He has been around a lot of people without mask. I think, that is also why Kate’s situation looks weird to people.
What’s your definition of isolated? And if she needed to be isolated, wouldn’t it be best to wear a mask when she’s around others, as she most definitely was for Trooping?
Will, who supposedly lives with her, is around big crowds with no mask. And took George and Charlotte out into big crowds.
I’m willing to bet the ableist AF courtiers who:
-took umbrage at Princess Margaret going in public in a wheelchair in her final years
-refused to allow Her Maj mobility aids to get to the opening of Parliament and had her photographed standing w/ PM within weeks of her death from BONE cancer
are also going to refuse to let Huesa wear an N95 grade respirator mask to give out a trophy “because the public has to see Kate smile”.
If they don’t let her mask she’s w/in her rights to not show up at all. There is an extremely nasty covid wave hitting everywhere right now (numbers coming in show the charts basically trending straight up; it’s the worst since early 2022 w/ Omicron), and Wimbledon, like Glastonbury, is a superspreader event.
Andy Murray is not Roger Federer. She would have showed up for Roger and would have acted like a schoolgirl with a massive crush that’s for sure.
This sort of feels like a way to keep her name in the news.
Well, Harry gets his award at the ESPYs are on 7/11, so I’d imagine someone in that family is popping up at Wimbledon on that day or the 12th to try and pull focus or so they can complain that Harry was overshadowing someone’s outing. I’m sure they’re trying to negotiate with Kate to show up, but I think someone in the Windsor family will show up
If all of this “will she, or won’t she” is an attempt at giving her a drum roll and anticipation for her finally showing up, it is getting a bit old.
If she doesn’t attend any of Wimbledon, we’ll know it’s true that she really is unwell, despite having looked quite good at Trooping.
In my opinion Kate Middleton’s illness is mental rather than physical. The British media are under instructions to keep it from the public who are so gullible they don’t question what’s going on or else happy for the royals to manipulate them as long as they can say that Britain has a royal family. What a sad lot!
F$CK any player representing Ruzzia or even silent on the atrocities Ruzzia has committed on Ukraine. They selected a children’s hospital to bomb today.
Wimbledon lost its appeal to Kate once it was regarded as work. Still, it will be interesting to see if she manages to make a strenuous effort to attend. The media will play its part with stories about “brave Kate” crawling out of her sickbed and dragging herself along to Wimbledon to courageously hand over a trophy 🤮