The Queen reveals she once worked as a ball girl on visit to Wimbledon
The Queen revealed that she once worked as a ball girl as she attended Wimbledon to watch the quarter-finals.
Her Majesty, 75, was introduced to ball boy, Sean, 16, and two ball girls, Larissa, 15, and Cassie, 16, during her visit. She asked them if they had previously worked at the tennis tournament and if they were enjoying the role.
She said: “You have to be very agile. I remember doing it one hundred years ago at Queen’s (Club). It is quite difficult.”
The Queen asked Sean if he was working across all of the courts during the Grand Slam, adding: “You must be feeling very fit.”
When Cassie said she had worked at a previous championship, Camilla joked: “So you are a bit of an expert?”
The Queen was joined by her younger sister, Annabel Elliot, for the outing during the second week of the Championships.
Before taking her seat in the royal box, she was also introduced to former British number one Johanna Konta, detection dog handler Mark Mills and his search dog, Flo.
She also met Teresa Harris, founder of Learn to Love to Read, a literary charity founded in 2014 and supported by The Wimbledon Foundation.
The Queen and her sister were both ballgirls for the Queen’s Tournament during her time as a Queen’s Gate schoolgirl. The school had a long association supplying ballgirls to the Tournament
She is a regular visitor to the tennis championships and is often photographed there alongside friends or Ms Elliot.
During a visit in 2013, the then Duchess of Cornwall said she feared she was “too old” to play tennis herself.
Asked by former world number one John McEnroe if she played, Camilla, then 65, replied: “Oh, very badly … I would love to start again but maybe I’m too old.”
The three-times Wimbledon champion reassured her: “Never too old, never too old!”
During the same visit, the then Duchess told former British number one Virginia Wade: “I have got my sister here today. We used to come to watch you year after year. And if we can’t see you, we watch you on the telly.”
Meanwhile, Tim Henman raised eyebrows as he was recorded greeting the royal visitor with the words: “Y’all right Your Highness?”
The Queen’s latest visit comes after the Princess of Wales, patron of the All England Club, paid a visit last Tuesday.
Zara and Mike Tindall were also spotted at the event on Wednesday.
The Queen will watch matches on Centre Court.
