While the Princess of Wales has long been an avid lover of the annual tennis tournament, there was one year she wasn’t allowed to attend after being ‘banned’ from making an appearance in the royal box

During the epic Wimbledon showdown of 2013, avid tennis fan Princess Kate was ‘banned’ from sitting courtside for the historic match (Image: Offside via Getty Images)

Princess Kate has long been an avid lover and supporter of Wimbledon, attending the annual tennis tournament numerous times over the years. While many royal spectators are hoping to catch a glimpse of the Princess of Wales this weekend for the finals, there have been a handful of times Kate has missed out on the action at SW19.

While Kate managed to make it to Wimbledon last year for the men’s final despite still being in recovery from her cancer treatment, there was one year that she was stopped from attending the tournament, despite her pleas to watch on from the royal box.

In 2013, Kate was forced to miss out on attending Wimbledon due to being heavily pregnant with Prince George (Image: PA)

During the tournament in 2013, the Princess was desperate to make it to the men’s singles final that saw Sir Andy Murray gunning to become the first British man to win the Grand Slam since Fred Perry in 1936, as he claimed the win in a stunning showdown against Novak Djokovic.

Kate was very eager to watch the match from courtside at Wimbledon, but as she was heavily pregnant with Prince George at the time, was advised not to attend and to watch the match from home instead.

Recalling the year she was forced to sit out of the action for the BBC documentary Our Wimbledon, Kate told sports host Sue Barker: “I was very heavily pregnant with George so I wasn’t able to turn up.” Sue replied: “But you had a great excuse!” to which Kate said: “I know but even still.”

Kate’s doctors advised her not to sit courtside for the match, and to instead take part in the action from home(Image: Dave Shopland/REX/Shutterstock)

“I was sort of ‘Maybe I could go’ but the doctors were like ‘no.’ I wrote to [Andy Murray] afterwards saying sorry for not being there, but huge congratulations.”

Kate gave birth to Prince George on July 22nd 2013 – just two weeks after the epic Wimbledon showdown.

Luckily for Kate, Andy Murray made the finals again three years later in 2016, and was able to attend in person, alongside Prince William, to see him lift the trophy after another winning performance.

Meeting Murray after his match, Kate said: “Many congratulations; it was a great game.” While William said: “So pleased for you, well done”, and Kate added: “You can relax with your family now.”

The Princess missed out on Andy Murray’s historic win, but managed to see him emerge victorious during the 2016 Wimbledon showdown(Image: PA Archive)

Andy Murray retired from professional tennis in 2024, as Kate sent the Scottish champion a message of support after he missed out on a final match at Wimbledon before his retirement.

Murray was due to play mixed doubles with Emma Raducanu last Saturday evening but the former US Open champion pulled out of the clash earlier in the day, citing stiffness in her right wrist.

In a personally-signed message on social media, Kate wrote: “An incredible #Wimbledon career comes to an end. You should be so very proud @andy_murray. On behalf of all of us, thank you! C.”