Kate's mum and sister were 'banned from Wimbledon's royal box' after blunder

03 July 2023 , 11:44

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Kate's mum and sister were 'banned from Wimbledon's royal box' after blunder

Wimbledon gets underway today, and like always, famous faces are set to adorn Centre Court's prestigious Royal Box.

As a royal patron of the All England Club, the Princess of Wales will no doubt be heading to SW19 at some point over the tournament to catch the action.

Kate is a keen tennis fan and is known to have a warm friendship with 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer.

But it's not just Kate who is keen on a spot of tennis in her family, her mum Carole, sister Pippa and dad Michael are also regulars each year at Wimbledon.

Carole and Pippa at Wimbledon in 2017 (WireImage)

Of course, when the princess visits the club, she's offered the best seats in the house in the royal box - and quite often, so are her family.

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But one year, it seems Carole and Pippa were stopped from taking their seats in the prestigious box - and it was all down to a glitch.

In 2017, the mother and daughter were relegated to standard seats for Andy Murray's fourth-round tie against Benoit Paire.

Kate's mum Carole and sister Pippa at Wimbledon in 2019 (Getty Images)

According to Hello!, they arrived too late for the match, and strict rules at the All England Club mean later comers cannot be admitted to the box.

However, it didn't seem to dampen the spirits of the pair, who looked delighted as they watched Murray advance to that year's quarter-finals in straight sets.

But it seems it isn't the only Wimbledon faux pas made by the Middletons, as Kate once revealed she was left "mortified" after her dad Michael was involved in an embarrassing mix-up.

Prince William and Kate together at Wimbledon last year (PA)

The duchess revealed the cringeworthy story in a 2017 BBC documentary called Our Wimbledon, presented by sports host Sue Barker.

She told Sue how her dad tried to play it cool in front of the former British number one tennis player Tim Henman.

Kate explained: "My father is not going to appreciate this, but we were walking past Tim Henman and we had just seen [Pete] Sampras play.

"My dad said very coolly: 'Hi Pete'.

"I was mortified!"

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Last year, there was a family affair at Wimbledon when Prince William and Kate attended the championship together - and Kate was spotted blowing a sweet kiss at her mum and dad.

William and Kate weren't sitting next to her parents, who appeared to be located elsewhere in Centre Court's royal box.

But that didn't stop Kate from blowing a kiss towards her mum and dad with her face lighting up when she managed to clock them in their seats.

Jennifer Newton