He may be third in line to become king but it always pays to keep one’s options open. Prince George, two, is already playing tennis, his mother, Kate, revealed during a visit to Wimbledon on Thursday, during which she also posed for a Snapchat video with Serena Williams and the Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.
Wimbledon welcomes its fair share of dignitaries each year, but the tournament appears to reserve its most enthusiastic cooing for royalty. The Duchess of Cambridge, who in contrast to previous years attended without her husband, Prince William, or sister Pippa Middleton, was greeted on her arrival by a lineup of players, ballboys and family members, among them the former British No 1 Greg Rusedski, the wheelchair players Gordon Reid and Louise Hunt, and Oracene Price, mother of Serena and Venus. Even the famously gruff Ivan Lendl, coach to Andy Murray, was grinning as they shook hands.
Asked what he and the duchess had discussed, Rusedski said: “She talked about George, her little boy, playing tennis. He’s got a racket and he enjoys playing tennis, and obviously she plays with William tennis as well. So they obviously enjoy the sport very much.”
Kate revealed to Reid that because William was left-handed, playing a game with him was “frustrating”.
Alongside the Countess of Wessex and Prince Michael of Kent, the royal box hosted Dame Maggie Smith, the Game of Thrones actor Sophie Turner and Bee Gee Barry Gibb.
Kate and Sophie later posed with Serena Williams following the American’s semi-final victory over Russia’s Elena Vesnina. “I’m in the in-crowd now,” joked Williams. “I’m with royalty.”
Williams said it was “really cool” to have met them. “We just had a chat about the matches … It was a good thing that I did not see that they were there. Maybe I would have gotten a little nervous.”
Rusedski said it was too early to make any predictions about the young prince’s tennis prospects, should he find himself in need of a trade. “As long as he is enjoying it at this age, that’s all that matters really. It’s too young to know what’s going to happen for the future, but it’s one of those sports for life.”
