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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Jennifer Newton

Kate Middleton 'begged' to go to Wimbledon for historic match but was 'banned'

Wimbledon is now well underway, with famous faces and even royalty set to grace some of the best seats in the house on Centre Court.

And one person we will almost definitely see in the box during Wimbledon fortnight is the Princess of Wales, who is a huge tennis fan as well as being patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

For the past few years, she's made several visits to the club during the tournament and been on hand to present the singles winners with their all-important trophies.

But it seems that 10 years ago, she was stopped from attending the tournament - despite her pleas to be allowed to go - and missed a huge historic win.

Kate Middleton at Wimbledon last year (Tim Merry)

It came in 2013 when Andy Murray made it to the men's singles final and was gunning to become the first British man to win the Grand Slam since Fred Perry in 1936.

Kate, it seems, was eager to be at Wimbledon to cheer him on but was heavily pregnant with Prince George at the time, so she was advised to watch the match from home.

She told sports host Sue Barker on the BBC documentary Our Wimbledon: "I was very heavily pregnant with George so I wasn't able to turn up."

Sue replied: "But you had a great excuse!"

Andy Murray speaks to Kate and Prince William after his 2016 Wimbledon win (BBC)

"I know but even still," Kate said. "I was sort of 'Maybe I could go' but the doctors were like 'no.'

"I wrote to [Andy Murray] afterwards saying sorry for not being there, but huge congratulations."

However, luckily three years later, when Murray made the final again, Kate was able to be there to see him lift his second Wimbledon title.

She attended the final with husband Prince William and couldn't contain her emotions when he served up a win.

Kate with tennis legend Roger Federer (AELTC/Thomas Lovelock)

Meeting Murray after his match, Kate said: "Many congratulations; it was a great game."

While William said: "So pleased for you, well done", and Kate added: "You can relax with your family now."

Meanwhile, last month, Kate joined eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer for a behind-the-scenes look at the work of the "amazingly professional" ball boys and girls who are a key part of the tennis tournament.

They were guests at a training session for some of the young hopefuls aiming to be chosen for the around 250 ball boy and girl roles during the championships running from July 3 to 16 in southwest London.

Kate said: "Wimbledon is renowned for its amazingly professional ball boys and ball girls, the amount of work it takes, it’s incredible to see it behind the scenes…

"With all the discipline and everything you’ve learnt, you’ll be able to take it into so many other parts of your life – things like confidence, and that feeling of pride with being on any of the courts is such a big moment."

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