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Wimbledon 2026: How do celebrities get invited to the royal box?

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A photo of Roger Federer seemingly sitting alone in the royal box at Wimbledon this week has sparked questions about both empty seats at the tournament and how celebrities gain invites to the VIP seating.

The royal box was first installed in the southern stand at Wimbledon’s Centre Court when the grounds originally opened in 1922.

Since then, the 74-seater segregated area has hosted celebrities, sportspeople, royalty, and other famous faces on each day of the tournament.

Those invited do not have to queue or pay for entry, and are also invited to lunch before play begins, as well as tea and drinks following the close of play. Those events take place in the adjacent clubhouse.

Guests are sent invitations by the chairperson of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) which, since 2023, is former professional player Debbie Jevans.

She takes into account suggestions from the AELTC’S management committee, the Lawn Tennis Association and other tennis bodies, and prominent figures when selecting high-profile guests.

Those taking one of the dark green Lloyd Loom wicker chairs in the box can include less recognisable faces, such as commercial partners, delegates, dignitaries, and media professionals, as well as household names.

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The British royal family are regularly invited, as well as other heads of state like presidents and prime ministers.

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Commonwealth Games 2026: Soppy socks & a slathering of deep heat – rain causes chaos in Glasgow

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England's Amy Hunt celebrates winning a silver medal in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

Some athletes struggled in the conditions.

England’s Morgan Lake did not clear the bar with any of her three efforts in the high jump.

Similarly, Scotland’s Steven Stone had attempts with his glasses on his face and the top of his head in the men’s T20 long jump but did not register a clean effort.

Northern Ireland’s Kate O’Connor said she was “gutted” with her throw of 12.85m in the heptathlon shot put.

“It just kept slipping out of my hands,” she said.

“When your chalk gets wet, it’s like you might as well have dish soap on your hands and I just probably spent too much time and effort trying to stay dry rather than doing the cues that I work on in training.

“I can’t blame anybody else apart from myself for not executing.”

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But there were also a number of impressive performances given the conditions.

O’Connor responded by running a dominant 24.14 seconds in the 200m to reclaim top spot of the heptathlon competition. England’s Jade O’Dowda was only eighth quickest and slipped back to second, 49 points in arrears.

In the men’s 100m, Eseme’s winning time of 9.83 was a Commonwealth Games record, the third-fastest time this year and moved him third on the all-time list of African sprinters.

The hammer throw and the high jump were briefly paused but when the former did resume Canada’s Camryn Rogers produced another Games record – 74.91m.

Even Hunt, who was slow out of the blocks and off the pace for the first 60m, finished 0.01secs outside her lifetime best of 10.97 in the women’s 100m which was won by New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs.

“I am just proud of myself for gritting it out and trusting my long legs,” Hunt said.

“Ultimately, we all have to race in the same conditions. We are all on the start line together freezing.

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“You just have to get out there and get it done.”

A smattering of hardy locals even stayed until the final anthem was sung as the clocked neared 11pm.

It was a night few will forget.

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Kick It Out calls for tougher sanctions as football discrimination reaches new high

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The statistics are not a surprise to Umar Ali, who plays for Route One Rovers – a semi-professional team in Bradford.

During Ramadan last year, he was racially abused by a group of opposition spectators as he was waiting to come on as a substitute.

“It was our first game playing while we were fasting,” he said. “So obviously we were hungry that day and I was a bit less patient.

“Then when I was getting ready to come on, one of the fans said I should shave my beard off and that I looked like a paedophile.

“One of them picked up a child who was about six, seven years old, and said ‘I bet your wife’s the same age as this child’.”

Umar described the men as in their sixties.

“It’s quite distressing, because they’re older than my dad,” he added. “They’re my grandad’s age, and they felt comfortable enough to stand there and make comments like that.”

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Umar said the assistant referee heard the comments and told the referee, who he claims did not take any action.

The police were eventually contacted and the spectators identified. Umar has not been informed of an outcome.

His manager Mohammed Patel was in the dugout during the match and said – while the opposition coaching staff apologised on behalf of their fans – he felt the officials fell short and should have removed those spectators shouting racist and Islamophobic abuse at his players.

Patel said: “It was a really emotional day for us, because the question we asked ourselves after that game is ‘Why is it still happening?’ Some of the things that were said were absolutely horrific.

“In my opinion, more needs to be done from the top down. We’re actively engaging and working with local FAs to try and navigate this problem, but it absolutely needs to be mandated.”

The Northern Counties East Football League fined the opposition club £300 and gave them nine disciplinary points. But Patel says that does not address the real problem.

“We’ve seen harsher punishments for violent conduct on the pitch or red cards, even administrative mistakes,” he added.

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“Something as serious as this, we were absolutely not happy with the result.”

Patel has been lobbying the Football Association, but has not yet received a response.

He said: “Precedents need to be set, harsher sanctions need to be introduced. This comes from the top down.”

The FA said in a statement: “We have introduced tougher sanctions for clubs and individuals, a new behaviour improvement programme, and penalty points accumulation charges in the grassroots game.

“This builds on the steps taken to allow for deductions of league points from clubs that are repeated offenders of serious misconduct.”

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Commonwealth Games 2026: Gymnast Ruby Evans wins first gold for Wales

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Ruby Evans in her gymnastic routine

Gymnast Ruby Evans has won Wales’ first Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow with victory in the floor final.

Evans, 19, performed the final routine of the women’s programme and defeated England’s Abigail Martin into silver, with her team-mate Shantae-Eve Amankwaah securing bronze.

Evans left the arena in tears on Sunday after her disappointing sixth in the all-round individual competition, that after Wales finished fourth in the team event.

Now, after Welsh identical twins Abigail and Emily Roper won bronze medals within a couple of hours of each other on Monday, Evans has delivered gold.

It was the first victory for Team Wales in Scotland and a ninth medal alongside two silver and six bronze.

There is also a guaranteed podium position for boxer Connor Williams after he reached the semi-finals.

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