Sweet moment Princess Charlotte is given racket by Barbora Krejčiková

By Eleanor Dye

07:57 15 Jul 2024, updated 09:19 15 Jul 2024

Princess Charlotte was given a sweet surprise while attending Wimbledon on Sunday – as women’s singles champion Barbora Krejčiková presented her with her winning racket. 

The young royal, nine, and her mother Kate Middleton made an appearance at SW19 on Sunday to watch the men’s final and while chattingn to players, the Princess of Wales spoke about her family tennis matches.

Describing the sport as a ‘great’ way for children to be active, she said: ‘As a family, we play a lot.’ 

Before the mother and daughter duo watched the tense showdown between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic on the famous centre court, Charlotte was given a very special surprise. 

An adorable video shows the sweet moment Barbora presented Charlotte with her own tennis racket – used to claim victory in yesterday’s final against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini. 

‘I’m Barbora, nice to meet you,’ she smiled, before shaking the hands of both royals.  

Charlotte was clearly left star-struck by the unique gift and beamed as she held it in her hands. 

The Princess of Wales was also overwhelmed, gushing: ‘That’s so special’, before embracing the Czech player on either cheek. 

‘Thank you very much, we really appreciate it,’ she added.  

An awe-struck Charlotte was all smiles as she held the racket and also got to look at the winning plate – the Venus Rosewater Dish.

Barbora clearly enjoyed her meeting with royalty, repeating ‘Thank you so much, we really appreciate it.’

Afterwards, she took to X, formerly Twitter, to write: ‘What an honour, your Royal Highness’. 

The video was posted on X by Kensington Palace as part of a highlights reel from Kate and Charlotte’s trip to Wimbledon.  

Accompanying the video, a message read: ‘Congratulations @carlosalcaraz on your remarkable victory. Thank you to everyone who works so hard to make @Wimbledon the spectacle that it is.’

It also included footage of Kate and Charlotte attending the match on Sunday, and meeting players such as Emma Raducanu, before Kate received a standing ovation upon her return to the royal box. 

Royal fans wrote: ‘Congrats Carlos and thank you Princess for thanking all the staff that work so hard to make this so wonderful’; 

‘So Happy to Princess Catherine all smiles and looking beautiful. Princess Charlotte as cute as ever’; 

‘So nice to see Princess Catherine and Princess Charlotte with smiles today’;

‘Congratulations to Carlos. It was so lovely to see The Princess and Princess Charlotte today’. 

Elsewhere on Sunday, the Princess of Wales presented the Wimbledon trophy to Carlos Alcaraz as the Spaniard won the Grand Slam for a second year in a row.

Kate, 42, who has stepped away from public royal duties while undergoing cancer treatment, saw the Spanish reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz take on veteran Novak Djokovic, winning in three sets. 

Before passing the trophy to Alcaraz, Kate commiserated and shook the hand of runner-up Novak Djokovic. 

Dressed in a £1295 bespoke dress from Safiyaa, the royal was greeted with a standing ovation as she headed into the Royal Box at Wimbledon earlier in the day.

With Princess Charlotte and sister Pippa by her side, the royal enjoyed a tense rematch of last year’s championship match on the grass of the All England Club – with Princess Charlotte showed off many expressive looks. 

Before the mother-daughter duo took their seats in the Royal Box, they met with female tennis stars, including 21-year-old Emma Radacanu, who all presented Kate with a bouquet of flowers.

Charlotte grinned from ear to ear as she met with the tennis star, who sadly saw her Wimbledon dream crushed on Centre Court by New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun last week.

Kate and Charlotte were also greeted by Sonay Kartal, Lily Miyazaki, Lucy Shuker and Flora Johnson as they arrived on the players’ lawn at Wimbledon before entering Centre Court.

Charlotte gave wheelchair tennis player Shuker a ‘pinky promise’ that she would try the sport alongside her mother.

Kate was also introduced to Raducanu, who was knocked out in the fourth round of this year’s championships, telling her: ‘It was so hard to see you go out.’

US Open winner Raducanu said it was ‘amazing’ to have the support of the princess and ‘see her here looking so healthy and happy’.

The daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales, who sported a £70 Polka Dot dress from Guess, was thrilled to meet the tennis star, and was photographed smiling ear to ear in her presence.

The mother and daughter then met the ‘Work at Wimbledon’ programme which supports young people from a range of backgrounds with roles at the Championships.

While meeting the players, Kate said Charlotte, who was wearing a navy polka dot dress, had been ‘practising yesterday’ and that tennis was ‘really great for the youngsters’.

Kate said she had been ‘filling in the leaderboard’ with Charlotte during Wimbledon, adding: ‘As a family, we play a lot.’

After being asked to try wheelchair tennis by Shuker, Kate said: ‘I’ve tried wheelchair rugby before, but not tennis. You’ll have to hold me to that.’

Shuker, the highest ranked British wheelchair women’s tennis player, told the PA news agency: ‘She was just saying how amazing it’s been to watch and follow everyone’s career.

‘Alfie Hewett won the men’s wheelchair tennis earlier. I just asked if they were playing tennis themselves, which they have been, and then said: ‘Have you tried wheelchair tennis?’

‘And I got a little pinky promise from Princess Charlotte that she would try it.’

Shuker added: ‘For me, it’s incredibly humbling to be here and to be asked to meet the princess today.’

Discussing her meeting with Kate, Raducanu told PA: ‘It was very nice to see Her Royal Highness again. I’ve met her twice before, and it was really nice to meet Charlotte as well, because I hadn’t before.

‘It’s amazing to see her be such a champion of tennis and following all of us.

‘We just spoke a little bit about my tournament, and the tennis, and also how I missed last year but I was very excited to come back this year. And a little bit about her tennis because she loves it.’

Asked about Kate’s appearance at the tournament following her diagnosis, Raducanu said: ‘I think it just shows her resilience and how much of a role model she is and it’s amazing to see her here looking so healthy and happy.’

Kate has been undergoing chemotherapy and made her first public appearance since announcing her cancer diagnosis in March at the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London last month.

She did not attend the women’s singles final on Saturday, and Wimbledon chairwoman Debbie Jevans presented the trophy to Barbora Krejcikova on her behalf.