Kate Middleton makes striking appearance at Wimbledon

Princess Catherine returns to Wimbledon

Catherine, Princess of Wales, received a standing ovation, as is usually reserved for tournament winners, when she arrived at Wimbledon on Sunday. She was accompanied by her daughter Princess Charlotte and her sister Pippa.

A message posted on her and Prince William’s X account while she was watching the men’s final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic read: “Great to be back at @Wimbledon! Nothing beats The Championships.”

Kate’s appearance was only her second public appearance since revealing she had been diagnosed with cancer in March. In an unprecedented video address, Catherine said at the time that she had “good days and bad days” but added: “I hope to make some public appearances in the summer,” fueling hopes she would make an appearance today.

Her dramatic return to the Royal Box on Centre Court on Sunday represents the fulfilment of that hope. Kate smiled and waved to the appreciative audience, who cheered her on as she took her seat. Also in the Royal Box: stars including Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Kensington Palace announced Kate’s appearance yesterday, only her second public appearance since revealing she had been diagnosed with cancer in March. At the time, Catherine said in an unprecedented video address that she had “good days and bad days” but added: “I hope to make some public appearances in the summer.”

Her day is scheduled to end with the princess presenting the most prestigious trophy in grass tennis to the winner, as she has done every year since 2016 (although she did not reach the women’s final yesterday).

Kate’s Wimbledon performance will be seen as a hugely encouraging sign that her cancer treatment is progressing well. As The Daily Beast reported on Saturday, a friend of the couple said upon hearing of the development, “It’s fantastic news and a great omen. It’s exactly what everyone has been praying for.”

A friend of Kate and William told The Daily Beast last week: “It’s no secret that she would love to be there, but when you’re going through chemo, as she said, there are good days and bad days. A lot of it depends on the timing of the treatments. She made it to Trooping the Color, so if she can make it to Wimbledon, she will.”

Kate’s husband, Prince William, will be in Germany tonight for the England-Spain European Championship final. He will likely be there with his son, Prince George.

King Charles keeps his council

King Charles III has not yet commented on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. He may decide to leave it at that. The rest of the family will follow his example.

His perspective would be fascinating, because on January 26, 1994, during an official tour of Sydney, then-Prince Charles was shot with a starting pistol by David Kang. Kang’s motive for the mock assassination attempt was later revealed to be a protest against the treatment of Cambodian boat people.

Charles showed remarkable calm; once his security team had subdued Kang, he straightened his suit, looked around at the crowd and said with a slight smile, “Where was I again?”

Kang pleaded guilty to threatening unlawful violence and was sentenced to 500 hours of community service, but, incredibly, he served no jail time. He later became a lawyer in Sydney.

Harry’s little bit of genius

Royal and military sources criticised Prince Harry for seeking attention by accepting an ESPY award this week. Matters were made worse when he was called a “divisive” choice by Mary Tillman, the mother of Pat Tillman, the multi-million-dollar football player who signed up for the award after 9/11 and died tragically, in whose honour the prize was created.

Harry countered this criticism by praising Mary in his acceptance speech, saying: “Her advocacy for Pat’s legacy is deeply personal and I respect that… The bond between a mother and her son is eternal and transcends even the greatest loss.”

Come on!

Prince George became a fan of the rock band Queen after they performed for the late Queen Elizabeth at the 2022 Platinum Jubilee concert in her honour (the so-called Platinum Party at the Palace).

However, George became confused about who was singing (Adam Lambert, who replaced Freddie Mercury) and who was playing guitar (the formidable Brian May).

Lambert told the Sun: “It was such an honour. I got to meet Princess Kate, which was fantastic. She was absolutely lovely, down-to-earth and charming. She was talking about her son remembering performing with the Queen at the palace for the Platinum Jubilee two years before. She said something like, ‘Oh, is Adam going to play his guitar?’

“She said, ‘I don’t think he knew who was playing guitar and who was who, but he remembered who you were.’ I thought, ‘Oh, that’s cute.’ You could tell she really wanted to take the time to connect and say thank you.”

Kate, the Sun said, probably referring to George who turned 8 in 2022.

Meghan’s Six-Figure ‘Suits’ Salary

Meghan Markle may have made around $200,000 (£155,000) from sales of her TV show To take to Netflix – and perhaps even more so through the sale of the show to broadcasters around the world, the Post on Sunday reports. “The series broke records last year when it debuted on Netflix and US platform Peacock, becoming the most streamed show of 2023, topping the charts for 12 weeks,” the Mail defeated.

Interest in the show has increased since Meghan married Prince Harry. She starred on the show from 2011 to 2017, but quit her role when she started dating Prince Harry.

This week in royal history

July 17 is both Queen Camilla’s birthday (she turns 77 on Wednesday) and the fourth wedding anniversary of Princess Beatrice and Eduardo Mapelli Mozzi.

Unanswered questions

Who will win the big Wimbledon and European Cup finals today? And how will Kate and William celebrate?