Queen Camilla enjoys surprise 'escape' to Wimbledon to watch tennis
The Queen made a surprise visit to Wimbledon on Wednesday saying it was “so nice to be able to escape for a day”.
Camilla headed to south-west London to enjoy watching play on the 10th day of the world-famous tennis championships.
She watched from the Royal Box on Centre Court, where she was joined by stars including Keira Knightley, Richard E Grant, and Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus.
The Princess of Wales’ parents Carole and Michael Middleton were also there, along with Mike and Zara Tindall, and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
Camilla was dressed for her day out at the All England Club in a cream linen dress featuring large giraffe motifs by Anna Valentine, accented by a Jack Russell brooch from Van Cleef and Arpels.
Pride and Prejudice star Knightley wore a white dress and dark sunglasses, while her husband James Righton, who fronted indie band The Klaxons until the band broke up in 2015, wore a dark brown suit with a cream shirt and tie.
They were joined by Australian former tennis player Mark Woodforde, and F1 star George Russell.
Withnail And I star Richard E Grant was also watching the day’s action from the Royal Box alongside journalist Jemima Khan.
Grant wore a white suit with a light brown waistcoat, red patterned tie, and white shirt, while Khan wore a black and white dress.
Former Conservative leader William Hague was also in the esteemed crowd, by his wife Ffion Hague.
Peter Phillips, the son of Anne, Princess Royal, watched on with his new girlfriend Harriet Sperling, who is an NHS nurse and freelance writer.
Phillips wore a dark blue suit with a white shirt and purple patterned tie, while Sperling wore a floral dress.
Camilla met with Wimbledon staff during her visit. She told former British tennis star Laura Robson, who works in international player relations at SW19, it was “so nice to be able to escape for a day”.
She praised head gardener Martyn Falconer, who has worked at Wimbledon for 25 years and cares for all the plants around the grounds.
“It all looks fantastic. It always looks absolutely perfect,” she told him.
She also met another Camila – the daughter of Mexican doubles player Santiago Gonzalez – after the youngster boldly introduced herself to the royal guest.
The Queen said “fancy having two Camillas here” and asked if she would like a picture together, and had a peek at Camila’s Wimbledon pass by holding her lanyard to read it.
She spent time chatting to ball girl Natalia, from Burntwood School in Wandsworth, and ball boy Yug, from Harris Academy Wimbledon, asking them which courts they worked on and how much they had been enjoying the experience.
Camilla was introduced to the welcome line-up by Deborah Jevans, chairwoman of the All England club, before heading to the royal box on Centre Court.
Camilla, who was joined by her sister Annabel Elliot, was watching former Wimbledon singles champion Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstani, face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the quarter-final.
The Queen missed Australia’s Alex De Minaur in his quarter-final clash against Novak Djokovic, after De Minaur was forced to withdraw with a hip injury.
She has been seen wearing her giraffe dress before.
She wore the outfit, which features large embroidered images of the animals on the skirt, during an official tour to Kenya last November.
