Princess Kate's skills on the tennis court have featured in a new social-media video, with the sport capturing the imagination of content creators following the release of the Hollywood movie Challengers.
The blockbuster, starring Zendaya alongside The Crown star Josh O'Connor and West Side Story's Mike Faist, has inspired a number of viral trends, including a more general exploration of tennis across platforms like TikTok.
This new interest has crossed over with the hugely popular cohort of royal creators to highlight Princess Kate's role as tennis' biggest royal fan. Like Zendaya, Kate's style on the center court of the sport has often won her praise, with the princess regularly referencing tennis in some way through her outfits for her Wimbledon tournament appearances in England.
The princess is the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Association, the hosts of the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships, and it is a role she was given personally by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2016.
Kate is a regular fixture during the Wimbledon games, often appearing in the royal box alongside Prince William, with the royal princess also presenting the winning trophies.
In 2023, Kate delighted tennis fans by filming a special video clip highlighting the work of Wimbledon's ball boys and ball girls. These are school-aged children who train to take part and retrieve tennis balls in the tournament each year, gaining access to the matches of some of the world's leading pros.
Accompanying her in the video was eight-time Wimbledon men's singles champion Roger Federer, who took to the court with his royal pal to test her skills.
@milfssb KATE MIDDLETON PLAYING TENNIS. THE SKIRT THE MUSCLES THE PONYTAIL. I feel like the royal family will hunt me down for this caption #katemiddleton #katemiddletonedit #princessofwales #catherinemiddleton #royalfamily #fyp ♬ original sound - Marie
Uploaded to TikTok by user @milfssb, on April 25, a compilation of clips from the Federer video has received over 12,000 likes from viewers, highlighting Kate's catching and volleying skills on the court.
"She looks beautiful doing anything, I can't," posted one user.
"Viral queen of the tennis scene. She's so Wimbledon coded. I love her," posted another, with a further comment reading: "I love this."
After the release of Kate's video with Federer, she was joined by the tennis star at a Wimbledon game in 2023. Seated in the royal box, he received a standing ovation following his retirement from playing professionally.
Though Kate usually attends a number of Wimbledon games each July, this year could likely be an exception as the princess was diagnosed with cancer in February and is undergoing a course of preventive chemotherapy.
When announcing her diagnosis in March, she said that she is looking forward to returning to her public duties but won't do so until she has had time to focus on her recovery and treatment, and only then on the advice of her medical team.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan Markle and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
