If you had been queuing up to buy tickets at Wimbledon yesterday, then you might have been forgiven for doubting your eyesight to see none other than the Princess of Wales appear. Like a fairy godmother, she was there to distribute the first few tickets to those who had already been waiting, in some cases, for several hours that day.
Princess Catherine – or Kate Middleton, as she was popularly known in her former, non-royal capacity – was wearing a suitably stylish pale blue linen suit in her quest to bring a touch of stardust to SW19 on the fourth day of the championships. She bantered with the thirsty and weary tennis fans and told them, in a splendidly English touch, that ‘you must be desperate to get in and have a drink’ after queuing uncomfortably in the heat for ages.
Undoubtedly, when these tennis fans staggered off to the Pimms tent, it might have been with a slight air of eye-rubbing disbelief at their close encounter with the Princess. Yet Catherine proved a dab hand, as usual, at the PR aspects of her responsibilities, which come with her patronage of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. She operated a card machine (refreshingly poorly), met disadvantaged children from the Shine Camera Club and watched a couple of matches in the company of, variously, Tim Henman and Sir Andy Murray.
The royal family could, frankly, do with an ambassador of her charm and ease at the moment
It was, in other words, a royal engagement at the rather more enjoyable and less controversial end of the spectrum. (Had J.K. Rowling been one of her fellow spectators, it may have been another story.) And after her sterling efforts completing the Three Peaks Challenge last weekend, few would begrudge the Princess of Wales an enjoyable and relaxing day in the glorious June sun watching the tennis and interacting with the suitably appreciative members of the public whom she encountered. Catherine has an undeniable knack for connecting with people in a warm and informal manner, something that she has demonstrated ever since she married Prince William in 2011, and this latest display of good cheer and very English jollity will only boost her reputation.
The royal family could, frankly, do with an ambassador of her charm and ease at the moment. When she took a step backwards from the public eye after being diagnosed with cancer in 2024, it was a grim reminder not just of the reality of illness for a young mother but also of the way that the institution that she is part of has often struggled to connect with its subjects on a purely emotional level.
Queen Camilla, another royal by marriage rather than birth, has a similarly light touch, but it is hard to imagine, say, Prince Edward demonstrating anything like the accessibility that Catherine manages to convey. King Charles has many strengths – intelligence, thoughtfulness, conviction – but there is also, inevitably, a sense of noblesse oblige that he conveys, which makes him a less immediately likeable figure than his daughter-in-law. Catherine makes even her husband William seem stiff and withdrawn by contrast.
One reason why Catherine is so important for the Firm is that, next year, it will have been 30 years since the death of Princess Diana. In a year’s time, with books, documentaries, podcasts and so forth, we as a nation will undoubtedly consider Diana’s legacy, both the good that she did in her lifetime and the shadow that she cast over an increasingly beleaguered institution afterwards. It is no exaggeration to suggest that her successor as Princess of Wales is the royal family’s greatest PR asset, and appearances such as yesterday’s symbolise why she is going to be called upon to bolster the monarchy in times of need. With the sagas of Harry and Andrew, in particular, showing no signs of disappearing, these times are very much upon them.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source spectator.com ’
