
Kate serves up royal glamour at Wimbledon for women's final
Ahead of the final, the princess, wearing a white belted jacket and pleated skirt, met the winner of the ladies' wheelchair final, Wang Ziying.
Accompanied by All England Club chairwoman Deborah Jevans, she also met 12-year-old Sophie Kneen, who is due to perform the coin toss at the ladies' final, and eight-year-old Lydia Lowe, who did the same at the ladies' wheelchair final.
Kate, who donned a bow-shaped brooch in the Wimbledon colours of purple and green, also spoke with Jefferson Iweh, a ticket sales operator; Bob Flint, an honorary steward; and Wimbledon foundation host Shaniah Williams.
Last year, the princess presented the Wimbledon men's final trophy to Carlos Alcaraz, in her second public engagement since she announced her cancer diagnosis.
The Princess of Wales's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, were seen in the Royal Box on Monday, with the Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duchess of Gloucester also in attendance.
The Queen told tennis star Novak Djokovic that she was keeping her 'fingers crossed' as she visited Wimbledon on Wednesday.
The Princess Royal's son Peter Phillips attended the championships on Wednesday, with Hugh Grant and former prime minister Sir John Major also in the Royal Box.
Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah, former footballer Ian Wright and Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins were among the notable names to attend a hot day at Wimbledon on Saturday.
Temperatures are forecast to peak at around 30C and fall short of a record for a women's singles final day, with 31.2C having been recorded on the day of the 1976 final between Chris Evert and Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: 'There will be blue skies at Wimbledon throughout the day, so it will feel hot, with very high UV levels and a light wind.
'There might be a little bit more cloud around tomorrow, making it a degree lower.'
The men's singles semi-final on Friday between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz was stopped twice in less than five minutes because of crowd emergencies, amid temperatures of 32C on Centre Court.
Three fans also needed attention on Centre Court on Thursday in similarly hot conditions.
The men's singles final on Sunday, with highs of 29C predicted, is unlikely to break the record of the warmest closing day on record of 34.1C recorded on July 3 1976.
The extreme heat during the 1976 tournament prompted organisers to allow umpires to remove their jackets.
Wimbledon has said the heat rule will apply for all singles events for players, which allows for a 10-minute break when the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is at or above 30.1C.
The rule will apply after the second set for all best-of-three-set matches, and after the third set for all best-of-five-set matches.
Players may leave the court during the break, but they may not receive coaching or medical treatment.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

South Wales Argus
10 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Ebbw Vale: plans for statue of Steve Jones lodged
Alyson Tippings of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council's environment and regeneration department has applied to place the 2.85-metre-high statue at Ebbw Vale Sports Centre on Lime Avenue. Destination manager Ms Tipping explained that talks had been held between her department, the Sports Centre and other groups with an interest in the project. Ms Tipping said: 'The project is being delivered by a group that includes local authority staff, Aneurin Leisure staff, local councillors and a representative of the group who fundraised for the project. 'Steve Jones and his family have been involved in the selection of the design.' They selected a proposal by artist Tim Ward for the sculpture. The sculpture is to be a silhouette running figure mounted on a locally quarried limestone boulder. The total height of the proposal will be 3.4 metres and will be 'created' in 10mm marine grade 316 stainless steel, laser cut to shape with laser etched text in Welsh and English. The figure will be 2.85 metres high with a width of 1.5 metres and shows Steve Jones wearing the number 10 breaking the world record in 1984 when winning the Chicago Marathon. The steelwork will be securely fixed by resin fixed into a base on a boulder. A decision on the application is expected by September 2. Olympian and former marathon world record holder Mr Jones was awarded Blaenau Gwent's highest honour when councillors voted unanimously to award him the freedom of the county borough at a meeting in January. In April, Mr Jones joined councillors and guests online from his home in Boulder, Colorado in United States of America at an extraordinary council meeting where he received the honour.. The mover to award Mr Jones the freedom of Blaenau Gwent started last year when the council were asked by Lee Aherne chairman of Parc Bryn Bach running club, if anything would be done to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his world record run at the Chicago marathon. This feat took place on October 21, 1984. He held the marathon record for a British runner for 33 years until Mo Farah broke it in 2018. At the meeting Mr Aherne said: 'I was very luck in the 1980s to have stood on the starting lines when Steve was the best marathon runner in the world.' 'You are a bona fide legend.' Mr Jones told councillors 'You can't believe how honoured I feel to be accepting this award. 'Ebbw Vale is where I started running, my roots and family are still in Ebbw Vale. 'All the other things I have done in my life, even receiving my MBE from Princess Anne may stand second to this honour.'


Scottish Sun
10 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
From I'm A Celebrity winner to Olympic hero & Loose Woman panellist – Celebrity Gladiators line-up revealed
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MODEL Vogue Williams tops the bill of super-fit stars taking part in this year's Celebrity Gladiators. The Irish presenter, 39, will be joined on the show by fitness guru Joe Wicks, 39, former Olympic boxer Nicola Adams, 42, and gym-obsessed I'm a Celebrity winner Sam Thompson, 32. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 5 Vogue Williams is taking part in this year's Celebrity Gladiators Credit: JOHN DARDIS 5 Fitness guru Joe Wicks is among the celebs taking part Credit: David Cummings - Commissioned by The Sun 5 Gym-obsessed I'm A Celebrity winner Sam Thompson will also be a contender Credit: Instagram Today, the four stars will film the episode — a spin-off of the original Gladiators contest — with the finished show set to air later this year. A TV insider said: 'Last year, producers of the debut celebrity version played it for laughs with three comedians taking part — with hilarious results for viewers. 'But this year they've assembled four celebrities who can give the Gladiators a serious run for their money, and serve up a clash to savour.' In the previous BBC One special, comedians Rob Beckett, 39, Joel Dommett, 40, and Ellie Taylor, 41, and news host Louise Minchin, 56, competed against the elite athletes. Now Vogue, who won the first series of Bear Grylls: Mission Survive, will be among those to face the Gladiators. She has three children with her husband, reality star Spencer Matthews, who broke the record for completing 30 marathons in 30 days last year. Meanwhile Body Coach Joe Wicks, who is married to former Page Three model Rosie Jones, will be cheered on by their three children. During the Covid pandemic, he led online fitness classes. Strictly star Nicola, who won gold at the London and Rio Olympics before retiring, promises to pack a punch. And Sam, crowned King of the Jungle in 2023, has been throwing himself into his fitness regime since his split with ex-girlfriend, former Love Islander Zara McDermott. Two new Gladiators revealed as British rowing champ and super strong weightlifter He has previously run the London Marathon. Filming of the regular Gladiators, now on its third series since its reboot on BBC One, takes place over the next week at Sheffield Arena. It will be out early next year with Bradley Walsh and son Barney returning to host. The second edition of Celebrity Gladiators will air just before. 5 Former Olympic boxer Nicola Adams is also part of the line-up Credit: Getty


Daily Mirror
12 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Boris Becker slams Alexander Zverev's mental health admission as a mistake
Alexander Zverev was beaten in the first round at Wimbledon before opening up on his struggles away from the court, with Boris Becker questioning his decision to do so German tennis legend Boris Becker has claimed Alexander Zverev made an error in judgement when discussing his mental health struggles following his shock first-round exit at Wimbledon. Zverev, 28, has long been earmarked as a future Grand Slam champion but he has been plagued by controversy. Whilst he has reached the final of every major tournament apart from SW19, the world No. 3 has yet to fulfil the lofty expectations many had predicted for him. Zverev's dreams of claiming a maiden major at Wimbledon were crushed in the opening round this summer when he suffered defeat to Arthur Rinderknech. Following the loss, he spoke candidly about his recent difficulties and garnered backing from numerous supporters. Nevertheless, Becker, a three-time Wimbledon winner, believes that Zverev wasn't given proper guidance by his entourage and should have kept his private torment under wraps. "Alexander Zverev is like an adopted son to me in the sports world; I feel a lot of empathy for him," Becker, 57, said via Tennis365. "If I had been his coach, I would have advised him not to disclose that information about his mental state in the Wimbledon press conference. The ideal thing is not to open up to the world when one is eliminated in the first round of a Grand Slam." Becker reinforced his faith that Zverev can recapture his previous form however, adding: "Perhaps it was the revelation he needed. I am convinced that he will win his Grand Slam and that he can become number one at some point. Becoming number one is challenging, but staying number one is the most difficult thing in the world." Following his surprising departure at the All England Club, Zverev left the tennis world stunned with his frank admission. "I've never felt this empty before. Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do," he said. "It's not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well. I don't think tennis is the problem right now for me. It's something else that I have to find within me at the moment. But something within me has to change, which is not necessarily on the tennis court. "It's funny, I feel very alone out there at times. I struggle mentally. It's difficult to find joy outside the tennis court for me at the moment. "It's not an excuse or anything. I think Arthur deserved to win. It's something I've felt for the past few months. Again, I just feel generally very, very alone and very lonely. I don't know. Just never felt that way before." Beyond the court, Zverev has found himself embroiled in scandal. He faced domestic abuse allegations from his ex-girlfriend. Zverev refuted the accusations and challenged the order, leading to a public trial that was subsequently dropped. "I've been through a lot of difficulties. I've been through a lot of difficulties in the media. I've been through a lot of difficulties in life generally," he added following his defeat at Wimbledon. "It's just not there right now for me, which, again, is the first time in my life, which I'm feeling." Zverev is set to compete next at the Canadian Open, where he will go head-to-head with Australian Adam Walton in Tuesday's round of 64.