By Jenna Clarke
As the Queen prepares for her 90th birthday, the Duchess of Cambridge has been given a new job as the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, hosts of Wimbledon.
According to The Sunday Times, the mother of two will assume the role from the upcoming European summer as the Queen steps down from the position after 64 years.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is an avid tennis fan. Seen here at the men's singles final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2014.Credit: Karwai Tang
The Duchess is an avid tennis fan and is a regular in the royal box with Prince William and her family during the Wimbledon Championships. She accepted an honorary membership to the prestigious club in 2013.
As well as Wimbledon, the Queen is reportedly looking to offload a number of her sporting patronages to other members of her family, including Prince William, who may pick up the English Football Association - of which he is already the president.
Prince Harry looks set to take the reins from his grandmother at the Rugby Football Union after her 65-year tenure as patron.
She is affiliated with 628 organisations and charities.
However Catherine's appointment in particular may cause uproar in the wider family as the sitting Wimbledon president is the Queen's first cousin, 80-year-old Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who may be forced to give up his trophy presentation duties and the best seat overlooking centre court to the former Miss Middleton.
It also raises suspicions that the honorary president of the Lawn Tennis Association, Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, may also be replaced by Catherine. Birgitte, according to the Daily Mail, allegedly enjoys inviting members of the royal family who don't like tennis along to matches at Wimbledon, knowing it is hard for them to decline.
Family politics aside, 2016 is looking to be jam-packed for the Duchess with royal duties, school runs with Prince George to his Westacre Montessori School Nursery and other freelance media gigs in the pipeline.
Later this month she will guest edit Britain's Huffington Post news website for a day to raise awareness of children's mental health issues. She will commission articles from experts, parents and children, but will focus solely on articles related to childhood mental illness.
She will also take part in her first ever solo televised interview in June to wish her grandmother-in-law a happy birthday. Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince William will also appear in the two-hour tribute show.
The Queen's 90th birthday, which is in April but is celebrated with a long weekend in June, will be marked with a live-screened birthday event at Windsor Castle featuring 900 horses, followed by three days of rolling coverage.