PRINCESS CHARLOTTE REACTS AS MOM KATE MIDDLETON RECEIVES STANDING OVATION AT WIMBLEDON: SEE THE EMOTIONAL PHOTO

The Princess of Wales had a special guest with her as she made a rare public appearance amid her cancer treatment

Princess Charlotte and Kate Middleton attend Wimbledon July 14, 2024. PHOTO: KARWAI TANG/WIREIMAGE

Kate Middleton's biggest fan might be her daughter, Princess Charlotte.

The Princess of Wales, 42, stepped out at Wimbledon on July 14, marking a rare public outing as she continues cancer treatment. Accompanied by 9-year-old Charlotte, the two princesses met people associated with the event before heading to the Royal Box at Centre Court to watch the men's singles final, a repeat of last year's championship matchup between Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Rounding out the girls' day out at Wimbledon was Kate's sister, Pippa Middleton.

As they took their seats in the front row of the Royal Box, the crowd rose to their feet, giving Princess Kate a standing ovation. Princess Charlotte beamed with pride at her mom, who waved with a smile, visibly moved. The applause resonated deeply, marking a rare and emotional public appearance for Kate amid her cancer treatment.

Karwai Tang, the photographer who captured the sweet moment, tells PEOPLE: “When [Kate] usually comes in, she walks down the steps and into her seat. She doesn’t normally stand and wave. But she stood for a while and took it all in. For her to acknowledge it and take in the applause was special."

"She seemed to look no different from the last Wimbledon. It felt like she is back," he adds. “For them to cheer and clap when they came in was a great support for her. Wimbledon had been waiting with bated breath for her to return and she was back.”

Tang also captured another touching moment between the mother and daughter after Charlotte and Pippa came back to their seats after taking a break from the match.

Princess Charlotte and Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales giggle during the men's final on day fourteen of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2024 in London, England. PHOTO: KARWAI TANG/WIREIMAGE

 

“[Charlotte] skipped down the stairs and when she got back to her seat — she was laughing. She leaned over and must have told her mom what it was about and they were giggling together and having a good old laugh," he says.

Of the family outing, Tang says, “You can tell that all three of them were enjoying themselves — Charlotte is following the game like her mother. You can see their excitement.”

Pippa Middleton and Princess Charlotte in the royal box on day fourteen of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2024. PHOTO: PRESS ASSOCIATION VIA AP IMAGES

 

While Princess Kate sported a purple dress by Safiyaa that matched her bow tie pin representing her role with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Princess Charlotte wore a polka dot blue dress with her hair in her signature style: a half-up 'do with two braids pinned back with a bow.

Princess Kate and Prince William are regulars at Wimbledon, and in recent years, they've started to introduce their children to the sporty staple of their summer calendar.

Princess Charlotte's outing at Wimbledon marks her second time attending the tennis tournament. Princess Charlotte joined her parents and big brother, Prince George, for her Wimbledon debut last year, sporting stylish sunglasses as she cheered on Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Djokovic in a thrilling match.

Princess Charlotte and Kate Middleton at Wimbledon July 14, 2024. PHOTO: CLIVE BRUNSKILL/GETTY

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Prince George has also attended the event twice, in 2022 (where he got the chance to hold Djokovic's first-place trophy!) and 2023.

Prince George and Princess Charlotte's little brother, 6-year-old Prince Louis, has yet to make his Wimbledon debut. The reason may be that he's simply too young — both of Louis' royal siblings were 8 when they attended the athletic event for the first time.

The Royal Box at Centre Court is typically off-limits to kids given the high demand for a spot in the 74-seat area, but exceptions are made for royal children.

Prince William skipped this year's Wimbledon finals as he headed to Germany for another sporting event. The Prince of Wales, 42, is set to support England's soccer team as they take on Spain in the Euro 2024 championship game in his role as president of the Football Association.

Although the Princess of Wales typically attends Wimbledon on multiple days of the competition each year, she has largely stayed out of the public eye as she continues cancer treatment. Her outing at Wimbledon came just weeks after she joined the royal family at Trooping the Colour, the annual celebration of King Charles' birthday, in her first outing since revealing her diagnosis.

Wimbledon organizers previously said they were hopeful that the royal would be able to attend and continue the tradition of handing out the prizes this year. Club chair Debbie Jevans told Telegraph Sport that they will give Princess Kate "as much flexibility as possible," with the outlet reporting the call on who will present the trophies may not be made until the mornings of the final matches.

Even before becoming the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Kate was a regular Wimbledon attendee. The avid tennis player has watched the tournament in person every year since she married Prince William except in 2020 (when the COVID-19 pandemic affected the tournament) and in 2013, which took place when she was ""heavily pregnant" with Prince George and doctors advised her not to attend the event.

-  Stephanie Petit and Simon Perry

ALLNHAIL ALCARAZ AS HE ENDS DJOKOVIC'S LONG WIMBLEDON REIGN IN THRILLER

Reuters 

Carlos Alcaraz heralded the changing of the guard in men's tennis as he ended Novak Djokovic's long reign at Wimbledon with a rip-roaring 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory to win the All England Club title for the first time on Sunday.

The 36-year-old Serbian had been indestructible on Wimbledon's Centre Court for a decade but finally met his match as he ran out of ideas to stop young gun Alcaraz from hurtling towards the title.

After the 20-year-old had broken for a 2-1 lead in the fifth set with a stupendous passing shot winner, Djokovic's racket felt the full force of his anger as he smashed it against the wooden net post to leave it in a mangled mess.

That earned Djokovic a second warning in the contest, with the world number two having also been cautioned earlier for taking too much time to launch into his serves.

All that distraction failed to throw Alcaraz off course as he became the youngest man since 18-year-old Boris Becker in 1986 to win the Challenge Cup after Djokovic scooped a forehand into the net, leaving the Spaniard to collapse on to his back in his moment of triumph.

BRITAIN'S NEAL SKUPSKI AND DUTCH PARTNER WESLEY KOOLHOF WINS WIMBLEDON DOUBLES

Reuters

Centre Court fans celebrated a home champion as Neal Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof won the Wimbledon men's doubles title with a 6-4 6-4 win against Spain-Argentina duo Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos on Saturday.

A clash lasting little more than an hour ended with Koolhof holding serve to love.

UNSEEDED VONDROUSOVA STUNS JABEUR TO WIN TITLE

Reuters 

Czech Marketa Vondrousova left Tunisia's Ons Jabeur heart-broken once again as she claimed a surprise 6-4 6-4 victory on Saturday to become the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon women's singles title.

The 24-year-old left-hander, who a year ago needed wrist surgery, proved too steady for the error-strewn Jabeur who ended up as runner-up as she did in 2022.

Jabeur, beaten by Elena Rybakina last year and by Iga Swiatek in the 2022 U.S. Open final, was bidding to become the first Arab player to win a Grand Slam title and the first African woman to lift one of the four major trophies.

DJOKOVIC EASES PAST SINNER T8 REACH WIMBLEDON FINAL

Reuters

Novak Djokovic barely got out of second gear as he swept past a subdued Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon, easing into a record 35th Grand Slam final with a whirlwind 6-3 6-4 7-6(4) victory on Friday.

Djokovic has turned Centre Court into his own personal fiefdom having not lost there in 10 years, and the Serbian is now one win away from a record-equalling eighth title at the grasscourt major to match the mark of Roger Federer.

The 21-year-old Sinner, who was aiming to become the youngest man to reach the Wimbledon final since 2007, was outclassed, falling flat on the big occasion and allowing Djokovic to turn the screw at key moments in the contest.

DEADLY DJOKOVIC REPELS RUBLEV TO REACH SEMI-FINALS

Reuters 

Favourite Novak Djokovic found himself behind for the first time at this year's Wimbledon but responded in brutal fashion to beat Andrey Rublev 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-3 and reach the semi-finals on Tuesday for the 12th time.

Inspired seventh seed Rublev snatched the opening set but it was akin to poking a sleeping grizzly bear as Djokovic exacted painful punishment to stay on track for a fifth straight title.

Rublev played brilliant tennis that would have accounted for pretty much any other player in the world.

But it was not enough to stop the 36-year-old Djokovic reaching his 46th Grand Slam semi-final, equalling the record of eight-time champion Roger Federer.

TOP SEED SWIATEK TOPPLED BY SVITOLINA IN WIMBLEDON QUARTER-FINALS

Reuter

Even the world's best players are not immune to crippling nerves as Iga Swiatek discovered when her Wimbledon dreams were turned to dust in a 7-5 6-7(5) 6-2 quarter-final defeat by Ukrainian wildcard Elina Svitolina on Tuesday.

Svitolina, who returned to the tour in April after giving birth to her daughter last October, was 4-2 down in the opening set and struggled to get her serve going in blustery conditions on Centre Court as Swiatek moved into a 5-3 lead.

But the momentum suddenly swung Svitolina's way as from 0-30 down on her serve in the ninth game she went on to win 16 of the next 18 points to bag the first set and leave stunned Swiatek wondering what had gone wrong.

That sequence included breaking Swiatek's serve twice in succession, with the Polish top seed surrendering the first of those to love with a double fault.

After Swiatek guided a backhand volley into the tramlines to hand Svitolina the set, the players had to endure a 20-minute break as the roof was closed to shut out the dark clouds hovering over Centre Court.

ALCARAZ IS ENJOYING HIMSELF IN CENTER COURT

DJOKOVIC WINS IN NICK OF TIME | ALCARAZ SHINES | BRITS OUT

Reuters 

Novak Djokovic showed again why he remains invincible at Wimbledon, young rival Carlos Alcaraz graced Centre Court for the first time and Andy Murray's hopes ended in Greek tragedy on another marathon day at the grasscourt slam on Friday.

Serbia's Djokovic, chasing records on multiple fronts, left it late to book his place in round four, beating Stan Wawrinka 6-3 6-1 7-6(5) just before Wimbledon's 11pm curfew.

Spain's world number Alcaraz is a round behind because of this week's rain but picked up speed with a 6-4 7-6(2) 6-3 victory against Frenchman Alexandre Muller.

Women's top seed Iga Swiatek continued her serene progress with a third successive straight sets win -- this time against Croatia's Petra Martic 6-2 7-5.

DJOKOVIC BEATS WAWRINKA JUST BEFORE CLOSING TIME

Reuters

Stan Wawrinka said he stood no chance of beating Novak Djokovic in their Wimbledon third-round clash on Friday and the Swiss's prediction proved spot on as he was outplayed on Centre Court.

Walking out little more than two hours before Wimbledon's 11pm curfew, seven-time champion Djokovic was in a hurry as he rattled through two sets and though he met more resistance after that he sealed a 6-3 6-1 7-6(5) win just before closing time.

MURRY'S NIGHT-TIME DRAMA ENDS ON A WIMBLEDON CLIFF-HANGER

Reuters 

If guts and grit win grand slam titles just hand the Wimbledon trophy to Andy Murray right now.

Of course it doesn’t work like that though and the Scot must come back on Friday to earn a spot in the third round after an epic battle with Greek powerhouse Stefanos Tsitsipas was halted with the clock approaching 11pm local time on Thursday.

The scoreboard under the lights showed Murray leading the hard-fought contest 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 6-4.

It had been a fascinating match played out in a heady Centre Court atmosphere with nothing to separate twice champion Murray and his flaxen-haired fifth-seeded opponent.

WITHOUT RACKET, FEDERER WOWS CENTER COURT

Reuters 

Retired Swiss great Roger Federer made a surprise appearance on his favourite stage to the delight of a packed Centre Court at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Federer, whose 20 Grand Slam singles titles include a record eight at Wimbledon and who many regard as the greatest player of all time, retired last year at the age of 41.

AT 43, EVERGREEN VENUS RETURNS TO FAVOURITE HUNTING GROUND WIMBLEDON

Reuters 

Twenty-six years after Venus Williams made her Wimbledon debut, the five-times champion will be back on Centre Court once again on Monday and the 43-year-old American said she could even play until she is 50.

"It's never been done before so if there is anyone who could do it, it would be me," Williams told reporters ahead of her showdown with fellow wildcard Elina Svitolina.

Her sister Serena bowed out of the sport at the U.S. Open last year as the greatest female player of the Open era with 23 Grand Slam titles.