Royal Family
This Surprising Royal May Step: Officials are still “hopeful” the princess will attend.
Now that Wimbledon is in full swing, the possibility of Kate Middleton attending this year’s tournament amid her ongoing cancer treatment remains up in the air.
Over the years, the avid tennis fan and patron of the All England Club has become a constant (and very stylish) fixture in the stands, and she’s presented trophies to the tennis champions at the event since 2016.
With reports that Wimbledon officials are holding out for a decision from the Princess on the morning of, the palace reportedly has a surprising royal replacement that’ll step in to present trophies at Wimbledon if Princess Kate isn’t feeling well enough to attend.
The Duchess of Gloucester is now reportedly being considered if Kate isn’t up for the public appearance, per The Telegraph. While the Duchess isn’t as well known as some of the other British royals, she’s a key working family member.
Birgitte is married to Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, Prince Richard, and has reportedly been very involved in taking on some responsibilities from King Charles as he undergoes treatment for cancer.
King Charles even recently recognized the Duchess of Gloucester for her help by naming her Royal Lady Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in April. Plus, just like Kate, the royal is also a huge tennis fan and has been seen in the stands at many Wimbledon matches.
The All England Club Chair Debbie Jevans previously told Telegraph Sport that they’re “hopeful” Princess Kate is able to attend this year’s tournament, but they’re being as flexible as possible to accommodate the royal’s health.
“We’re hopeful that the Princess of Wales will be able to present the trophies as the Club’s patron, but her health and recovery is the priority,” the former tennis pro told the publication.
“We don’t know what we don’t know. All we’ve said is that we’ll work with her and give her as much flexibility as possible.”
A final decision on who will be presenting the trophies won’t be made until Saturday morning, when the women’s final is set to take place. While Princess Kate hasn’t attended any public engagements since her highly-anticipated Trooping the Colour appearance, the royal has been watching the Wimbledon matches from home, even sharing a message of support for British tennis player Andy Murray as he closed out his tennis career at this year’s tournament.
“An incredible #Wimbledon career comes to an end,” she wrote from her X account, which she shares with husband Prince William. “You should be so very proud @andy_murray. On behalf of all of us, thank you!
Royal Family
King Charles ‘irritated’ over Prince William and Kate Middleton event blunder
The health challenges currently facing the Royal Family have made this one of the most difficult years the monarchy has experienced in recent history.
With both King Charles and Princess Kate currently undergoing treatment for cancer their already close relationship has only grown stronger with the King’s spokesperson noting earlier in the year that he has stayed in the “closest contact” with his “beloved daughter-in-law” throughout the difficult period.
However like all families just because the royals share close bonds doesn’t mean that they never get on each other’s nerves and one royal expert has revealed that when Prince William and Kate made one particular blunder last year during a seriously high-profile royal event, the King was left feeling pretty “irritated” at the couple.
The expert – royal author Katie Nicholl – revealed the blunder, and the King’s reaction to it, in an episode of Vanity Fair’s Dynasty podcast, which explored how Prince William’s role has adapted within the Royal Family over the course of this last, and challenging, year.
The high-profile event at which the blunder was made was none other than the Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla, one of the most historic days in for the monarchy in decades.
Lifestyle
Prince Harry ‘blinded by his own sibling-sour grapes’ in feud with William, expert says
A royal commentator has claimed that Prince Harry was “blinded by sour grapes” in his feud with his brother, Prince William.
Dr Tessa Dunlop’s remarks come after the Prince of Wales’ new documentary on the homelessness crisis was released on ITV.
In the documentary, William mentioned Harry while talking about their late mother, Princess Diana, taking them to a homeless shelter.
Dunlop said, according to GB News, “ITV’s ‘Prince William, Together We Can End Homelessness’ wasn’t just moving television, it reframed the Prince of Wales as a future ‘King of hearts’.
In the opening of his memoir Spare, Harry insisted that William with his ‘alarming baldness’ was losing his ‘famous resemblance to Mummy.’
It was fading apparently. The Duke of Sussex, blinded by his own sibling-sour grapes, couldn’t be more wrong.”
Dunlop added, “Last night, William channelled Diana. The same big-eyed stare, the same capacity to make the unseen in society feel seen, the same sincerity; as William readily owned, he had ‘taken guidance from what my mother did’.”
‘William isn’t just a celebrity, he is a ‘super celebrity’’
The second part of the documentary is also set to air. It will be available to international audiences on Disney+ from Friday, November 1.
Meanwhile, Dunlop said, “As a charity boss casually observed, William isn’t just a celebrity, he is a ‘super celebrity’ and his capacity to work that status was there for all to see. When else would an issue like homelessness get two consecutive slots on prime-time TV?”
“As for questions about the prince owning too many palaces to be a credible homelessness champion – he faced down that accusation by front-lining Windsor Castle mid-documentary to underscore his status as the man who can. Former street sleeper Wayne didn’t care, he just wanted a platform to tell his story,” Dunlop added.
Lifestyle
Duchess Sophie reduced to tears after meeting Sudanese refugees fleeing civil war
The Duchess of Edinburgh was visibly moved to tears during her recent visit to Chad, where she met with refugees who had fled the brutal civil war in Sudan.
During her time there, the Duchess listened to their heartbreaking accounts of sexual violence and the harrowing experiences they endured.
Sophie, 59, became the first member of the royal family to make an official visit to the central African country, spending three days in Chad, including a day at the border with Sudan, before departing on Monday afternoon.
At a hospital centre in Adre, near the border, the Duchess hugged five survivors of conflict-related sexual violence after hearing what they had been through.
Overcome with emotion, Sophie was moved to tears as she addressed the media following the private meeting, reflecting on the profound impact of the survivors’ courage and resilience.
People are having to exchange food and water for sex, for rape,” she said. “That is violence that is being enacted through conflict. It is being used as a bargaining tool.
“These women have no option but to leave. And, even then, they’re lucky if some of them can get away because some of the villages and towns that they come from they can’t even leave their houses any more. If they leave their houses they get killed.”
The royal added: “What they do to the children is… I can’t even use the words.”
The Duchess – who has two children, Lady Louise Windsor, 20, and 16-year-old James, the Earl of Wessex with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh – admitted she was “quite wobbly” after hearing the women’s experiences, which she described as “devastating”.
The Duchess spoke to victims of conflict-related sexual violence and saw work carried out by UNICEF
One of the women who Sophie met said afterwards she had fled the city of Geneina, in the west Darfur region of Sudan, after thousands of people were killed in a matter of days.
The woman said her family had been threatened with death and rape if they left their home, while her teenage son and brothers were among men who were rounded up and taken away.
After arriving in Chad’s capital city N’Djamena on Saturday, Sophie took an early morning flight on Sunday to Farchana on the other side of the country.
A motorcade with a military escort then took her a further hour and a half’s drive, over rough terrain, to Adre, where more than 220,000 refugees, mostly women and children, are living in a camp after fleeing following the conflict between the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the paramilitary RSF which broke out in April 2023.
After her emotional meeting with the sexual violence survivors, Sophie visited a session run by Plan International, which runs mobile protection units to try to identify children in the camps who need help.
The Duchess is a champion of the UN’s Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS) and a supporter of the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI).
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