The Duchess Dons a Tennis Print for Wimbledon Call

The Duchess debuted a new label as she made a Zoom call to mark what would typically be the start of Finals Weekend at  Wimbledon.

Kate made the call with tennis students from Bond Primary School in her role as Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC).

You may remember the Duchess visited the school in January 2018. 

She was there to see the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative (WJTI) in action.

In today’s call, the Duchess chatted with the children and asked how their training was going. More from The Telegraph’s coverage of the call. 

One instructor said the children had been “on fire” in training that day, with the Duchess asking “What sort of things have you been learning?”

Shown one of the drills, which involved young players running quickly on the spot, she said: “Fantastic! That’s very important for your footwork isn’t it?”

Speaking slowly so she could be heard over a short time delay, she asked: “Have you all missed doing lots of physical exercise and things during lockdown? What sort of things have you been able to do?”

The Duchess then told the students she had a surprise visitor joining them. Here is a clip. 

Game. Set. Match. ?

To mark what would have been the start of finals weekend of the famous @Wimbledon Championships, The Duchess of Cambridge was joined by surprise guest Sir @andy_murray, as she spoke to young tennis players from Bond Primary School in South London. pic.twitter.com/Nje9LGRXlH

— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) July 10, 2020

 More from The Evening Standard’s story:

Sir Andy, who would usually have been playing at Wimbledon this week, went on to answer questions from budding players, and told how he was missing big matches, friends and family.

The children also had questions for the tennis great. One student asked how old he was when he played his first game of tennis. 

Sir Andy said he thought he was seven years old. We return to The Evening Standard story to learn what other things he shared with the students. 

“The most important thing is to have fun,” said Sir Andy. “If you’re enjoying it, you get more out of your lessons and your practising. Listen to your coach, that’s very important. That’s the two most important things at your age.

“If you’re competing or playing any matches, try really hard in them.

“But winning and losing isn’t the most important thing. Enjoying playing a sport and being active is the most important thing.

“If you do go on to choose it as your career obviously the winning and losing changes a bit.”

Kate also chatted with Sir Andy, asking if he missed playing. More from The Daily Mail.  

He said: ‘I think missing the big competitions, because I’m getting old for a tennis player – you never know how many opportunities you’re going to have left to play the biggest competitions. So missing Wimbledon this week is obviously a shame.

‘I’ve missed the travelling…missing seeing friends like everyone else. Family, I’ve not seen my mum and dad for a few months so i’m looking forward to seeing them again hopefully very soon.

‘There’s been some challenges but I guess sometimes when you go through difficult moments like this you learn to appreciate the things you maybe took for granted sometimes?

Now for our look at what Kate wore for the call.

It looked like the Duchess was in the ‘Maria’ dress by HVN ($775).

Crafted of a silk crepe de chine, the Maria is midi-length with princess seams, cuffed short sleeves, slanted front pockets, and a self-belt. It also has satin piping at the softly notched collar and front placket, and top-stitched darts on the front. Here is a closer look at some of the dress details.

The dress is also offered at The Webster ($775) and at HVN ($775).  Many thanks to The Daily Mail’s Caroline Parr for her speedy dress ID this morning.  Actress/singer/songwriter Mandy Moore has also worn the Maria in the tennis print, seen here with husband Taylor Goldsmith in a May Instagram photo she posted.

You will see the same print used in other pieces from the spring collection, including the Rosemary Mini Dress ($475) and the Nora Mini Dress ($395).   

As well as the Ross Shirt ($295) shown left and center, and the Mini Paula Deep V-Neck Dress ($495) sen on the right. 

HVN stands for Harley Viera-Newton, the London-born, US-based model and DJ who started her line of vintage-inspired dresses in 2016.  With a fondness for playful prints and retro details, the brand’s designs became popular with celebrities like Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, and Karlie Kloss. More from a 2016 Vogue story about the line: 

Now Viera-Newton is bringing her well-honed eye for vintage frocks (she’s been thrifting them since she was a teen) to the masses with her new line, HVN—and filling in the gaps in her own collection along the way. “Pretty much 75 percent of my closet is vintage dresses,” Viera-Newton says with a laugh, “so much so that my friends make fun of me! It’s such a uniform that they’ve coined the term ‘the Harley Dress.’”

Ms. Viera-Newton in one of her designs. 

Originally launched exclusively at Matches Fashion, the line is now carried at several retailers, including Net-a-Porter, Farfetch, The Webster, Moda Operandi, Shopbop, and Neiman Marcus.  

Net-a-Porter has an exclusive line of HVN accessories that are now 40%-70% off; they include the Black Zoe Chainmail Bag ($90), the Printed Shell Cosmetic Case ($36) in a whimsical cherry pattern, the Rio Crystal Embellished Acrylic Tote ($168), and another Printed Shell Cosmetic Case ($36), this one with leopards and leaves. 

You see some of those prints in dresses like the Fromer Printed Poplin Dress ($437), the Olympia Cotton Poplin Midi ($287.50), and the Holland Cotton Blend Dress ($272).

It looked like the Duchess also wore her ‘Siren’ earrings in green onyx ($175) by jeweler Monica Vinader. 

And she had on her Wimbledon member’s pin, shown here as worn to the Gentlemen’s Singles Final in 2017.  

VIDEO: 

Here is the entire call, running a bit more than 10 minutes.

LINKAGE: 

• Visit the Wimbledon site here; the Wimbledon Foundation pages are here
• The Evening Standard’s story is here; The Telegraph’s piece is here; The Daily Mail’s coverage is here; The Mirror’s story is here
• Stephanie Petit’s People article is here; Tamara Abraham’s fashion column for The Telegraph is here