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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Entertainment
Jennifer Newton & Shannon Brown

Kate Middleton's mum and sister once 'forced out of Wimbledon's royal box' after blunder

Wimbledon is once again back on our screens and, while most of us won't be sitting courtside, familiar famous faces will be enjoying the matches from the Royal Box. Fans can expect to see the Princess of Wales at the tournament, as the patron of the All England Club.

Kate is a true tennis fan, known to have a friendship with Grand Slam legend Roger Federer Her family are equally keen on the sport, with her mum Carole, sister Pippa and dad Michael also regularly attending Wimbledon each year, the Mirror reports.

The princess is typically offered the best seats in the house in the prestigious Royal Box and when her family attend, they are often offered the same seats. However, one year Carole and Pippa were stopped from taking their seats in the box - all because of one strict Wimbledon rule.

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In 2017, the pair were relegated to standard seating for Andy Murray's fourth-round tie against Benoit Paire. According to Hello!, they arrived too late for the match, and strict rules at the All England Club mean later comers cannot be admitted to the box.

However, it didn't appear to spoil the event for the mum and daughter, who watched with delight as Andy Murray advanced to that year's quarter-finals in straight sets.

However, it's not the only faux pas made by the Middletons, after Kate once revealed she was left "mortified" after her dad Michael was involved in an embarrassing mix-up. She revealed the story in a 2017 BBC documentary titled Our Wimbledon, presented by long-running Wimbledon host, Sue Barker.

She told Sue how her dad tried to play it cool in front of the former British number one tennis player Tim Henman. Kate explained: "My father is not going to appreciate this, but we were walking past Tim Henman and we had just seen [Pete] Sampras play.

"My dad said very coolly: 'Hi Pete'. I was mortified!"

Last year, Kate and William attended the event together, with the duchess blowing a kiss to her parents after spotting them in the stands. Kate wasn't sitting with her parents, who were elsewhere in the box, but her face lit up as she spotted them in the stands.

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