Prince William and Princess Kate arrived at Wimbledon on Sunday to watch the Men’s Singles Finals with their two older children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
It was a joyous outing for the four Wales’, who took their seat at the Royal Box on Centre Court to watch Italian Jannik Sinner triumph over Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
The 23-year-old reversed the result of their epic French Open final last month to take out 22-year-old Carlos and win his first Wimbledon championship, defeating him 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
While the moment was definitely an exciting one for everyone involved, it proved to be doubly thrilling for Charlotte and George, with footage after the match capturing their facetime with none other than the champion himself.
A social media clip from the Wimbledon page showed Kate, Charlotte and George speaking with Jannik after the match, with the player taking the time out to autograph tennis balls for the young pair.
While royals rarely ever leave their roles to be more overt fans, it’s understandable and adorable to see Charlotte and George wanting to preserve memorabilia from the game, with their mother along to help. Watch the sweet moment in the video below…
As she thanked the Italian athlete for signing their balls, saying: “Thank you so much, that’s very kind of you,” Charlotte handed him a third tennis ball for their younger brother Louis, who couldn’t attend. “They’ve brought one for their brother as well,” the Princess of Wales told him.
Royal fans loved seeing the interaction between the group, responding with comments like: “So sweet. A signed ball for Louis as well,” and: “So satisfying to watch,” as well as: “A very special moment. Princess Charlotte is in awe.”
The Princess of Wales has long been a staple at the Wimbledon finals. Last year, she presented the winner’s trophy to Carlos Alcaraz following his win over Novak Djokovic.
© Getty ImagesIn 2023, she attended with Charlotte, who joined her mother for her first official visit to Centre Court. Charlotte sat alongside Kate and smiled as she watched the final with her older brother George.
This is now the third Grand Slam singles title for Jannik, who has two Australian Open wins and one US Open victory under his belt. All he needs is the French Open to complete his Grand Slam.
© Getty Images“I had a very tough loss in Paris,” he noted during Sunday’s on-court ceremony. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how you win or you lose the important tournaments. You just have to understand what you did wrong.”
Wimbledon: 5 surprising facts
© AFP via Getty Images1. A lot of tennis balls
Throughout the tournaments, Wimbledon goes through over 50,000 tennis balls! After the first seven games, the balls are replaced and refrigerated to maintain bounce.
2. Strawberries and cream
Tennis and strawberries are never apart throughout Wimbledon, and in fact, they only get the fruit from one supplier. Last year, Hugh Lowe Farm in Kent provided around 1.5 million strawberries over the two-week tournament.
3. Rufus the Hawk
Rufus, the hawk, has been the protector of the Wimbledon courts for the past ten years. He flies above the grounds in the early AM to chase away any pigeons to maintain a pristine court condition.
4. Prize money
The winners of the ladies’ and gentlemen’s singles championships will each receive £2.2 million. Additionally, the winners of every round will also receive money, ranging from £1500 for the winner of the first round of mixed doubles, up to £1.1 million for the runner-up in the final.
5. Longest match in history
In June 2010, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut battled for 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days, with the longest match in professional tennis history. The match totalled 183 games, and John eventually won 70-68.
“Trying to work on that — that’s exactly what we did. We tried to accept the loss and then just kept working. And this is, for sure, why I’m holding this trophy here.”
© Getty ImagesCarlos, for his part, was a fantastic sport, praising his opponent and noting their friendship off-court as well. “Really happy to be able to build a really good relationship off the court but then a great rivalry on the court that makes me improve every day,” he said.
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