Queen Camilla made a surprise visit to Wimbledon on day 10 of the Championships, accompanied by her sister Annabel Elliott. The Queen arrived at the All England Club on Wednesday morning wearing a turquoise chiffon dress by designer Anna Valentine.
Royal Engagement at the All England Club
Camilla entered the players’ area next to Centre Court and greeted a line-up of Wimbledon staff, players, and local workers. Among them was former British number one Heather Watson, 34, who described the meeting as “lovely”. Watson said of the Queen: “She’s super down-to-earth. I started sweating profusely with nerves. She asked me about Wimbledon and my career.”
Watson also spoke with Annabel Elliott, who mentioned that “they’d been coming to Wimbledon since they were very young”. Watson added: “I met the previous Queen, I think it was over 10 years ago now, in exactly the same sort of place with Laura (Robson).”
Conversations with Ball Boys and Charity Chief
The Queen spoke with ball boy Zebedee, who studies at Saint Cecilia’s Church of England School, and Aniya, who studies at The Tiffin’s Girl School. Zebedee called the experience “very special”, while Aniya said: “It was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed it. It’s definitely an opportunity of a lifetime.” Camilla asked the youngsters how long they had been ball girls and boys and what courts they had worked on.
Camilla also met Richard Gammage, chief executive of City Harvest, a charity combating food waste. Gammage said: “It was lovely to meet Her Majesty. We talked about what we do and how we do it, she was really interested in all of that. I had the great privilege of meeting her about 15 years ago when she was becoming involved with the Royal Air Force Station, and she remembered that, which was lovely.” He added: “She was interested in what we do with the food and what sort of groups the food goes to, because we do everything from women’s refugees to day centres for people who are rough sleeping, youth groups, school groups, church groups, a variety of denominations.”
Long-Serving Staff and Royal Box Guests
Also in the line-up was Morag Ranford, who had worked in Wimbledon’s press operations team for 50 years, and Pete Dobson, a longstanding safety officer who has worked at the tournament for 25 years. The Queen is among a host of famous faces due to take a seat in the royal box on Centre Court on Wednesday, joining American actress Elle Fanning, adventurer Bear Grylls, and British actor Sir David Suchet.
