Queen Elizabeth II addresses US Congress in 1991

Unlike other royals, Queen Elizabeth II was barely ever seen in Wimbledon’s exclusive Royal Box.

Princess Diana was a regular fixture throughout the Eighties and Nineties and Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, are now frequently in attendance with the latter making a surprise visit on day two just last week.

But Her Majesty went to the popular SW19 event just four times throughout her 70-year-long reign.

Upon the death of King George VI, the Queen became the royal face of Wimbledon, appointed as a patron in 1952. But she only attended in 1957, 1962 and 1977.

She also attended in 2010 to watch Andy Murray play, her first visit in 33 years.

READ MORE: Late Queen’s pallbearers treated to seats in Wimbledon’s royal box

According to a royal insider, the late Queen avoided attending because she simply did not like the sport.

Respected royal biographer Brian Hoey explained the Queen’s dislike for tennis in his 2020 book Royalty Revealed: A Majestic Miscellany. He wrote: “Tennis is not on the list of royal favourite sports.”

The author, who has penned 36 books about royalty, also claimed the Queen’s only daughter Princess Anne is similarly not a fan of Wimbledon because she feels it is intimidating.

Mr Hoey added: “The Princess Royal is also not much of an enthusiast, saying that Wimbledon is too ‘cauldron-like’.”

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In January 2017, the Queen stepped down as patron and passed the role on to Kate, who is an avid tennis fan.

The late Queen’s visits have always been in her capacity as patron. She last visited the tournament seven years prior when she watched Murray beat Jarkko Nieminen.

During that same visit, she also met several tennis stars including Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer.

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Her visit to SW19 prior to this came in 1977, the year Britain’s Virginia Wade won the women’s singles competition.

Before those championships, the Queen’s last outing at Centre Court was in 1962, where she presented the Wimbledon trophy to Australian legend Rod Laver.

And five years before that, in 1957, Her Majesty made her first visit to the championships during her reign which was an especially historic year as Althea Gibson became the first black player to win Wimbledon.

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