Kensington Palace Confirms Princess Kate Will Attend Wimbledon Amidst Ongoing Cancer Treatment

The Princess of Wales will be in attendance during the men's singles final.

Catherine, Princess of Wales at the trophy presentations after the Gentlemen's Singles Final match on Centre Court during the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon on July 16, 2023, in London, England.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

It's official! Kate Middleton will attend this year's Wimbledon Championships in person and as she continues treatment for an unspecified type of cancer.

According to People, Kensington Palace has confirmed that the Princess of Wales will be in the crowd during the men’s singles final at Wimbledon on Sunday, July 14.

Princess Kate will not, however, visit the England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Saturday to present the women's champion with their hard-earned trophy, the Venus Rosewater Dish.

Instead, Wimbledon chairwoman Debbie Jevans will fill in for the Princess of Wales and present the women's champion trophy on her behalf, The Daily Mail reports.

Up until now, Middleton's possible attendance was something of a lingering question mark, as she remains mainly out of the public eye as she privately continues preventative cancer treatment and recovers alongside her immediate family.

According to a close friend of Middleton's, it was "no secret that (Princess Kate) would dearly love to be" at Wimbledon this year, but added that "when you're having chemo, as she herself said, there are good days and bad days."

"A lot depends on the timing of the treatments," the source told The Daily Beast in a recent interview. "She made it to Trooping the Colour, so if she can make it to Wimbledon, she will."

According to former royal butler Paul Burrell—who worked for the royal family for 21 years—the decision as to whether or not Princess Kate would attend Wimbledon this year was ultimately up to her husband, Prince William, who Burrell said is "fiercely protective" of his wife.

"William controls this household, and William will decide whether she's well enough to do this, because he's the one that protects the family—fiercely,” Burrell recently told The Sun. “There’s no way he’s going to subject Kate to intrusion that she can’t handle.

“With William by her side, Kate’s safe because he will take care of her and would never let anyone harm her,” Burrell added.

In a 2017 BBC documentary titledSue Barker: Our Wimbledon, the Princess of Wales—the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club—confessed that watching Wimbledon was "very much part of me growing up."

“It’s such a quintessential part of the English summer, and I think it really inspires youngsters, myself—it inspired me when I was younger to get involved in the game," she said at the time. "It hasn’t changed, either. I think that’s what’s so wonderful.” 

Traditionally, Middleton presents the winning trophies to both winners of the oldest and arguably most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

Danielle Campoamor
Weekend Editor

Danielle Campoamor is Marie Claire's weekend editor covering all things news, celebrity, politics, culture, live events, and more. In addition, she is an award-winning freelance writer and former NBC journalist with over a decade of digital media experience covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mortality, gun violence, climate change, politics, celebrity news, culture, online trends, wellness, gender-based violence and other feminist issues. You can find her work in The New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, New York Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, TODAY, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Prism, Newsweek, Slate, HuffPost and more. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two feral sons. When she is not writing, editing or doom scrolling she enjoys reading, cooking, debating current events and politics, traveling to Seattle to see her dear friends and losing Pokémon battles against her ruthless offspring. You can find her on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and all the places.