The 44-year-old wife of heir to the throne Prince William, mingled with fans who had been queuing since the early hours to enter the grounds and chatted to workers in the ticket office. She also helped hand out grounds passes to tennis fans, and even posed for selfies with enthusiastic members of the public.

The princess, who is an avid tennis fan and patron of the All England Club, is a regular attendee at Wimbledon. Last year she chose to bring children Prince George and Princess Charlotte along to watch the Men’s Singles Final.

While the action on court is the focus, what the Princess chooses to wear to the mid-summer sporting event is always notable for fashion fans. Princess Kate’s Wimbledon style is always polished and elegant, usually involving a selection of white or colourful dresses or skirt and blazers. She often accessorises with a green and purple Wimbledon bow brooch, a signifier of her role as patron of the historic tennis club.

This year, she matched the periwinkle-blue of last year’s choice, but opted to wear the splash of colour in a relaxed-fit suit with wide-leg trousers instead. However, that bow brooch was absent this time.

She also swerved another tradition, ditching seats in the royal box to sit courtside with former player Tim Henman.

The princess chose to watch Arthur Fery, one of the last Britons remaining in the draw, in his early games against Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen on Court 18. The 23-year-old wildcard went on to win 5-7 7-6(3) 6-3 6-3.

In a courtside interview, a delighted Fery said he might have felt more nervous had he realised royalty was in the house.“I didn’t know she was here. I probably would have been a bit more tight if I did,” the French-born Fery said.

“There is lots of support at home in the U.K. so it’s fantastic to play in front of them. It’s great to do it for the U.K. Selfishly I am doing it for myself first – but I’m always behind the other players and wishing them success.”

Princess Kate,former tennis player Andy Murray, and Anne Keothavong watch the second round match between Britain’s Katie Swan and Madison Keys of the U.S. from the stands in Court 1. Photo / ReutersThe princess later switched to Court 1, accompanied by double Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, where Katie Swan was battling 26th seed Madison Keys of the United States.But the 27-year-old Swan, also a wildcard after slipping low in the rankings following a back problem that threatened her career, could not capitalise on the royal support and went down 6-1 6-4.

Keys, the 2025 Australian Open champion and a quarter-finalist twice at Wimbledon, arrived fresh from taking the Eastbourne grasscourt title and was just too powerful for Swan.

Only four British players reached round two of the singles after 15 of the 19 in the main draws lost in the opening round — the highest number since 1988.

Fery is now flying the flag solo after defeats later in the day for Jacob Fearnley and Jan Choinski.

Fearnley lost to Spain’s Jaume Munar 6-4 7-6(3) 6-4 while Choinski briefly looked capable of keep Fery company in the third round but went down 4-6 6-2 7-5 6-2 to American 17th seed Frances Tiafoe.