Kate, Meghan and Pippa Take in the Wimbledon Women’s Finals

Kate brought back a familiar dress to watch the Women’s Singles Championship at Wimbledon. Below, the Duchess with AELTC Chair Philip Brook and his wife, Gill. 

The Duchess is patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, and today she arrived early to spend time with former and current players. Here you see her speaking with junior players (L-R): Latvia’s Kamilla Bartone, Russia’s Oksana Selekmeteva, Russia’s Polina Kudermetova and France’s Giulia Morlet.

Then it was time to head for the royal box at Centre Court.

Today’s match was between American Serena Williams, going for her 24th major championship title, and Simona Halep of Romania. This is the first time a Romanian woman has reached the women’s singles final at Wimbledon. Below, the women arriving on Centre Court. 

The Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex.

We were excited when we heard Meghan would be joining Kate, but did not know until today we would have the added delight of seeing Pippa Matthews, Kate’s younger sister.

You see tennis legend Martina Navratilova in the row just behind the royal women. 

A very wide shot of the royal box. The temperature was in the mid-70s for most of the match. 

But at times the sun peeked out from behind the clouds and that necessitated sunglasses. 

Last year the Duchesses also attended a match together. 

The Duchess chatting with the Duke of Kent, President of the All England Club.  

Here I think you see the two Duchesses just after the match concluded. 

There were quite a few notable names in attendance today, including outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. 

Actor Aidan Turner of The Hobbitt and Poldark renown.  

Actress Lily James. 

Woody Harrelson and his wife, Laura Louie, were in the royal box, but that may have been for men’s doubles, not the women’s singles. 

Ms. Halep took the match in less than an hour. Below, the Duke of Kent presents her with the Venus Rosewater Dish. 

As noted on the Wimbledon site, “The No.7 seed, whose name appeared on no one’s list of likely winners before The Championships began, became the first Romanian ever to win a Wimbledon title.” UPDATE JULY 14: There have been a number of comments about this description of Simona Halep, and I have also received some email on the topic. The description above is from Wimbledon’s story, on the Wimbledon site. It is not my judgment about Ms. Halep’s skills.

Below, the competitors.  

This view of the two women provides perspective in terms of where the royal box is in relationship to the court. You can also see where some of the media are situated.  

And how it looks for the photographers. 

More from the Wimbledon news story:

In her very first press conference after her first round win (she beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich in straight sets), four people turned up. It was less of a press conference, more of a cosy chat, really.

The scene at today’s news conference.

But when she came to the interview room for her champion’s press conference, it was standing room only. As she walked in, there were 78 scribes poised and ready to ask the killer question. By the time she had given a couple of answers, there were many more (we had run out of fingers by that time and sums are not our strong suit) lining the back and sides of the room. That is not to mention the official film crew and photographer.

In the second video listed below after the post content, the Simona Halep interview, you will hear her speak about how excited she is to become a lifetime member of the AELTC, one of the perks for champions. Here you see her with Philip Brook after he has given the new champ her membership pin. 

Some may remember reading in our post from last week that this is Mr. Brook’s final Championship as chairman; he is retiring. Here you see Ms. Halep giving him a letter of appreciation on behalf of the Women’s Tennis Association, thanking him for his contributions to women’s tennis.

The new champion also spoke earlier this week about how much she hoped Kate would be attending the match. Here you see her wish come true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Duchess of Cambridge, @Wimbledon Patron, congratulates the 2019 Ladies’ Singles Champion Simona Halep on her first #Wimbledon title ?????

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Jul 13, 2019 at 9:27am PDT

 

Also today, the Ladies’ Wheelchair Singles final. Below left, Aniek Van Koot, the champion, and runner-up Diede De Groot; both of the Netherlands.  

The Men’s Wheelchair Doubles final was today as well. Below you see Joachim Gerard of Belgium and Stefan Olsson of Sweden, the champions. They bested Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid, both of Great Britain. 

The Girls’ Singles final was also today. Below, winner Daria Snigur of Ukraine (L) and runner-up Alexa Noel of the United States. 

Now for our look at what Kate wore, a dress by Dolce and Gabbana. 

We first saw the Duchess in the dress during the September 2016 tour in Canada. Here you see the piece as worn then, as well as today, along with the original product shot before it was modified for Kate. 

It is made of a stretch crepe described as mid-weight, in a viscose/acetate/elastane blend. Design elements include a fitted bodice, flared skirt, a ruffle at the upper shoulder seam, goldtone buttons and concealed back zipper.

We saw the return of the Rupert Sanderson Malory heels in Nude Kid Leather.

Kate carried the Miss Sicily handbag by Dolce and Gabbana.

It is the same handbag Kate carried to last year’s Men’s Singles final. She also paired it with a Dolce & Gabbana dress for that engagement. 

The Duchess also brought back the same earrings worn to last year’s Men’s Final, the Asprey Oak Leaf Small Hoop design ($6450). The earrings are 18K yellow gold with pavé diamonds. 

It looked like Kate was wearing the Ray-Ban Wayfarer II sunglasses ($153). 

For those curious about what Pippa Matthews wore, she was in the Ruflette Sleeveless Midi Dress (£735, roughly $925 at today’s exchange rates) by British label Anna Mason London, a brand she has worn previously.

The dress is a tiered style with a fitted bodice with high neck and frilled sleeves. We show some of the other fabrics the dress comes in on the right above. More on Anna Mason from the brand’s “About” page: “Her first job as a fashion designer was working for Karl Lagerfeld in Paris, after which she worked in Italy for MaxMara and Valentino. Returning to London she then worked for Amanda Wakeley.” Our thanks to The Daily Mail’s Caroline Parr for the dress ID.

The earrings worn by Ms. Matthews are by Garrard, the jeweler’s Petal Ear Climbers in 18K white gold with sapphires, tanzanites and diamonds. Thank you to Melissa K for commenting with a link to them.  

Another view of the two royals. 

And one more photo of the threesome, this one taken after the match. 

You can read all about what the Duchess of Sussex wore at our sister site, What Meghan Wore.

REMINDER: We’ll see the Duchess, as well as the Duke, for tomorrow Men’s Singles Final. The match begins at 2pm locally, that is 9am EDT/6am PDT. (Correcting earlier times that were an hour off, with thanks to Adi for her comment!) 

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We have a couple of quick shopping updates to share today.

The first is a reminder about the annual anniversary sale at Nordstrom. Nordstrom cardholders can shop the sale now. 

If not a cardholder the sale opens to the public online and in-store Friday, the 19th.

A few things caught my eye, starting with a decent repliKate for the Mulberry Paddington coat most recently seen in November 2016. The Mulberry is a wool blend with a touch of mohair (originally $1590) that is no longer available. On the far right, the Vince Camuto Lightweight Coat, done in a poly/rayon blend. It is on sale now for $105.90; after the sale ends the price will go up to $159. The fabric isn’t the same, but the color and cut seem a good match.

These next two items aren’t exactly repliKates, more in the “along the lines of,” in this case the Avery Loafer by J Crew seen during the Canada tour in October 2016. The “similar in theme” shoes are the Halogen Lucy in the center ($59.90 on sale, $99.95 after the sale) and on the right, the Blondell loafer ($89.90 now, $139.95 after the sale) by Louise et Cie.  

Several brands we have seen Kate wear over the years are included in the sale:

• Barbour
• J. Crew
• Topshop
• Max Mara

The other Shopping note involves the annual Prime Day sale at Amazon with its sale pricing and promotions. The Prime Day promotion is now two days and it runs this coming Monday/Tuesday, the 15th/16th.

The sale starts at 12am PT on Monday, that’s 3am on the east coast.

If thinking about shopping, the NY Times has a good piece titled 5 Things to Avoid on Amazon Prime Day.

VIDEOS:

In this first video, there is about 3:15 of Kate & Pippa arriving, and then the Duchess meeting players and official.

Simona Halep, in her post-match live interview speaks about her play.

“Have you ever played a better match than that?”

“Never!”@Simona_Halep speaks as a #Wimbledon champion for the first time… pic.twitter.com/0VRfeD628L

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 13, 2019

 

Serena Williams  spoke about her second-place finish and congratulated the new champ.

“She literally played out of her mind. Whenever a player plays that amazing you just have to take your hat off”@serenawilliams, sporting in defeat ?#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/vvCcQ25M7n

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 13, 2019

 

LINKAGE:

• The Guardian’s sports story is here; an Evening Standard story and slideshow may be seen here;
• A People story is here; a Hello piece with lots of photos is here; a Metro story on celebrities in attendance is here
• A Telegraph fashion piece is here; a PopSugar slideshow is here; The Fug Girls post is here;