Qualifier Tatjana Maria became the first woman to win a title at Queen's since 1973 after beating eighth seed Amanda Anisimova 6-3 6-4 at the Andy Murray Arena.
The mother-of-two claimed the biggest title of her career to cap off the first women's tournament - boasting a £1million prize pot - held at the historic west London venue in 52 years.
It was a family affair for Maria, whose daughters, 11-year-old Charlotte and four-year-old Cecilia, joined her husband and coach Charles-Edouard Maria in the front row to watch the 37-year-old dispatch American Anisimova in one hour and 23 minutes.
Maria, who knocked out top-20 players Karolina Muchova, Elena Rybakina and Madison Keys en route to the final, is the oldest WTA singles tour winner since 2020, when Serena Williams - who also returned to tennis after having children - won in Auckland, aged 38.
"It means a lot to me, because I'm 37 years old and I won this trophy today," said Maria, who confirmed she would like her career to last for at least another two years so she can play doubles as soon as her eldest is eligible.
"In the past, people were always saying, 'you're too old', but actually I'm a good example that even at my age, you can still win big trophies.
"I'm super proud of myself that I could win this tournament, because I always believed, and my husband too.
"That's why we kept going, because there was aways this belief that I could win big tournaments and do great things on the tour, so I'm really, really proud of this."
She replaces Olga Morozova, who once coached a young Murray, as the most recent female winner at Queen's, and marked the venue's new chapter by scribbling "queen of Queen's" on the camera.
Maria entered this WTA 500 tournament at 86th in the rankings, but the triumph will catapult her to number 43 when they update on Monday - when Emma Raducanu will also officially take over from Katie Boulter as British number one.
The 2022 German Wimbledon semi-finalist won her first WTA title on grass at Mallorca in 2018, following it with back-to-back clay court trophies at Bogota in 2023.
