Just about everyone else was in the Royal Box this afternoon to watch Andy Murray become the first British man in 77 years to win the singles title at Wimbledon but Queen Elizabeth II wasn't. When Britain last saw a women's singles winner the Queen presented the famous Venus Rosewater dish as Virginia Wade claimed victory in Silver Jubilee Year. The Queen isn't a great tennis fan and royal involvement in the most famous tennis tournament in the world has often been confined to her cousins with the Duke of Kent leading the way.
The famous Wimbledon trophies are usually presented by the Duke of Kent - the Queen handed them over in Silver Jubilee Year
(photo Benjami Villoslada I Gil)
But while this Queen Regnant doesn't have a particular love of the game, one Queen Consort had to be devoted to the sport of tennis. Elizabeth II's mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, had a very big stake in the tournament one year as her husband took part. In 1926 the Queen's father, later George VI, entered Wimbledon. He played in the doubles with Sir Louis Greig, his adviser, just months after the future Queen Consort Elizabeth had given birth to the little girl who would go on to be Queen Regnant. It was a short lived appearance - a straight sets defeat to another British pair ended their run.
King George VI is the only British monarch to play at the Wimbledon Championships but went out in the first round
Any other Queens for tennis? Not really. The six wives of Henry VIII would have indulged his love of real tennis but that game slowly fell from favour. And in modern times Diana, Princess of Wales loved to attend the tournament as does future Queen Consort Kate Middleton but no other has come as close to the green grass of Wimbledon as the Queen Mother.
But if British tennis continues to hit the heights of new Wimbledon champion, Andy Murray, who knows whether other royals will catch tennis fever.
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