There’s one royal making the most of the Royal Box at Wimbledon this year who’s already made more appearances than any other so far - and it's not who you'd think!
- The Princess of Wales might have been frequently spotted at Wimbledon in the past but so far she’s only made one appearance this year.
- Out of all the Royal Family’s tennis fans it’s one of Queen Elizabeth’s cousins who’s been glimpsed the most so far at the 2023 championships.
- This royal news comes as we revealed why the Prince and Princess of Wales may have to delay their family summer holiday.
Outside of Christmas at Sandringham and Easter at Windsor Castle, summer provides the most opportunities to see many members of the immediate and extended Royal Family in public together. From Trooping the Color to Royal Ascot which saw everyone from Princess Margaret’s daughter Lady Sarah Chatto to Lady Nicholas Windsor watching the races, it’s always intriguing to get a glimpse of rarely-seen royals too. Wimbledon is another of these occasions and each year plenty of Royal Family members watch from the Wimbledon Royal Box.
So far in 2023, there’s been one royal making the most of the Royal Box far more than anyone else. As a non-working royal not everyone might have recognized him but he’s already attended three times and could likely appear again before the tournament is over…
Whilst the Princess of Wales might be well-known for her love of both watching and playing tennis, it’s actually Prince Michael of Kent who’s been to Wimbledon 2023 the most of all the Royal Family this year. The Prince is the late Queen Elizabeth’s cousin and whilst his brother the Duke of Kent and sister Princess Alexandra of Kent are both working royals, he is not.
Because of this he’s not as frequently seen in public but at Wimbledon 2023, he’s been seen enjoying the honor of the Royal Box and watched the tennis on Day 1, Day 2 and Day 8. On Day 2 he was pictured greeting Kate Middleton as she made her first appearance at Wimbledon this year. And whilst he attended with his daughter Lady Gabriella Kingston on this particular day, on the others he appeared to have gone solo.
Last year and the year before Prince Michael only attended twice during the championships but he’s often been spotted at one of the finals. This could suggest that his already-impressive number of Wimbledon appearances could be set to increase even more if he follows this pattern and returns on July 15 or 16.
It’s also likely that Kate Middleton could attend over the second weekend of Wimbledon 2023 too as she did last year and handed out the trophies as Patron of the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. This was a privilege previously carried out by the Duke of Kent who stepped down as President of the Club in 2021.
It seems Kate and Prince Michael share an avid passion for tennis given how many times he’s attended Wimbledon so far this year. And many fans will no doubt be hoping the Princess of Wales could appear again soon and perhaps even match Prince Michael’s attendance amount by the time the championships end. Last year she was accompanied by Prince William and Prince George at the Men’s Singles Final and with the Wales kids now on summer break who knows whether we could also see a repeat of this in 2023.