Queen Camilla visits Wimbledon and joins fans in doing ‘the wave’
Britain's Queen Camilla waves as she arrives on Centre Court ahead of the quarterfinal match Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Kirsty Wigglesworth]
LONDON (AP) — Queen Camilla joined in some crowd fun at Wimbledon when she participated in “the wave” while watching a quarterfinal match at No. 1 Court.
Camilla, the wife of King Charles III, threw her hands up in the air with other fans as the wave rumbled through the stadium during the match between Lorenzo Musetti and Taylor Fritz.
Earlier in the day, she was at Centre Court and had taken a seat in the Royal Box, where guests included actress Keira Knightley, actor Richard E. Grant and Formula 1 driver George Russell.
Last year, the queen and Kate, the Princess of Wales, had made separate Wimbledon appearances. It was unclear if Kate, who was diagnosed with cancer early this year, would visit before the tournament ends on Sunday.
Camilla was greeted Wednesday by a ball girl and ball boy — the kids who run across the court chasing stray balls after a point is finished or a serve goes awry.
Britain's Queen Camilla, centre, reacts with the crowd during the Taylor Fritz of the United States and Lorenzo Musetti of Italy quarterfinal match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Alberto Pezzali
Among others she met was Martyn Falconer, head gardener at the All England Club.
The queen missed out on a Novak Djokovic match at Centre Court, though. The seven-time Wimbledon champion had been scheduled to play Alex de Minaur but the Australian withdrew because of a hip injury.
In the first match on Centre Court, Elena Rybakina defeated Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 6-2. Svitolina hadn’t realized that Camilla was in attendance.
“It’s such a big privilege to play Wimbledon in front of the queen, even though I didn’t know,” said Svitolina, who won a match Monday despite devastating news about the deadly Russian missile attack on her country. “The support that Ukraine (has) been getting from United Kingdom (has) been really unbelievable.”
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