Kate's the belle of the SW19 balls

THE Princess of Wales made light of soggy weather yesterday to enjoy a brolly good afternoon of tennis sitting next to friend and Wimbledon legend Roger Federer.

- Cyril Dixon

At first, the sporty royal witnessed a SW19 washout when the clouds broke as she watched British women's No1 Katie Boulter play Australian Daria Saville.

But 41-year-old Kate was ushered away under cover of an umbrella to a special centre court tribute to the Wimbledon record holder.

After joining a rapturous round of applause, she sat next to the eight-times winner in the Royal Box, watching Sir Andy Murray beat fellow Brit Ryan Peniston.

Wearing a mint green Balmain blazer with white skirt and high heels, she laughed and joked with a beige-suited Federer as his wife Mirka sat alongside.

The Swiss star, 41, looked humbled as a crowd - including former Prime Minister David Cameron and freed Iranian hostage Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe - showed their appreciation.

His meeting with Kate came just a week after they played a quick game together at the famous venue while meeting youngsters training as ball boys and girls.

Kate, patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, also recalled her childhood memories of queueing for Wimbledon in a chat with injured Emma Raducanu.

She told the 20-year-old star: "I used to do that, queueing up, with my dad and my sister.

"We would be there at the crack of dawn. It meant so much to be able to get the ground passes and being a part of the atmosphere of the queue. They would have loved to have seen you."