LONDON: Queen Camilla made a Centre Court appearance at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Camilla, the wife of King Charles III, took a seat in the Royal Box, where guests included actress Keira Knightley, actor Richard E. Grant and Formula 1 driver George Russell.
Last year, the queen and Kate, the Princess of Wales, had made separate Wimbledon appearances. It was unclear if Kate, who was diagnosed with cancer early this year, would visit before the tournament ends on Sunday.
Camilla was greeted Wednesday by a ball girl and ball boy — the kids who run across the court chasing stray balls after a point is finished or a serve goes awry.
Among others she met was Martyn Falconer, head gardener at the All England Club.
Britain's Queen Camilla is seen in the royal box on centre court before the start of play, July 10, 2024. (Reuters)
The queen missed out on a Novak Djokovic match at Centre Court, though. The seven-time Wimbledon champion had been scheduled to play Alex de Minaur but the Australian withdrew because of a hip injury.
In the first match on Centre Court, Elena Rybakina defeated Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 6-2. Svitolina hadn't realized that Camilla was in attendance.
“It’s such a big privilege to play Wimbledon in front of the queen, even though I didn’t know,” said Svitolina, who won a match Monday despite devastating news about the deadly Russian missile attack on her country. “The support that Ukraine (has) been getting from United Kingdom (has) been really unbelievable.”
