Princess of Wales attends Wimbledon in rare public appearance following cancer diagnosis

London: The Princess of Wales arrived at the All England Club on Sunday for the Wimbledon men’s final, only her second public appearance since announcing she was diagnosed with cancer.

Catherine, wife of heir to the throne Prince William, was greeted by a standing ovation from the Centre Court crowd as she took her seat in the royal box before the start of the championship match between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

The Princess of Wales and her daughter, Princess Charlotte, watch the men’s final on centre court.Credit: AP

Catherine and her nine-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte, arrived at the grasscourt grand slam tournament in south-west London in a motorcade about 30 minutes before the final was scheduled to begin.

They walked via a terrace at the club that is connected to the main stadium by a pedestrian walkway and greeted several people, including 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu and other young British tennis players.

The princess was wearing a purple dress, which is one of Wimbledon’s official colours. She was seated in the front row of the royal box alongside Charlotte. Catherine’s sister Pippa Matthews was also in attendance.

Former Wimbledon champion and Australian Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt was seated in the row behind the princess in a royal box packed with big tennis names past and present.

Princess Catherine was greeted by a standing ovation from the centre court crowd as she took her seat in the royal box.Credit: AP

Since 2016, the princess has been the patron of the All England Club, which hosts Wimbledon each year. Her ceremonial duties include handing out the winners’ trophies after the singles finals, although she was not on hand on Saturday when Barbora Krejcikova defeated Jasmine Paolini for the women’s title.

She did, however, present Alcaraz with the men’s trophy after he beat Djokovic in three sets to claim back-to-back titles.

Catherine revealed in March that she has cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. Her lone public appearance since then was attending last month’s birthday parade for King Charles III. Prior to that event, she released a statement saying she was “making good progress” but still had “good days and bad days.”

Catherine, Princess of Wales, presents Carlos Alcaraz with his trophy after he beat Novak Djokovic in the men’s singles final.Credit: Getty Images

Prince William has also been a regular at Wimbledon finals, but was not on hand on Sunday. Instead, he was due to watch England face Spain in the final of the men’s soccer European Championship in Germany. He is the president of the English Football Association.

Queen Camilla, wife of King Charles III, visited Wimbledon on Wednesday.

AP