
Wimbledon Royal Box: The real reason celebrities get the best seats at matches
Kicking off last week and continuing on until Sunday 13th July, SW19 is filled with actors, sports personalities and actual royalty as the most famous names descend on the tennis tournament for afternoons of tense matches and of course strawberries and creams.
And nowhere is a seat more coveted in than in The Royal Box, with the last week seeing everyone from Olivia Rodrigo to Dame Kelly Homes to Cate Blanchett settle in for a match.
But how do these celebrities bag a seat? Well this is everything to know about the Wimbledon Royal Box.
The Royal Box at Wimbledon is more than 100 years old having been introduced in 1922 and features 74 seats.
According to the official Wimbledon site the people invited are "British and overseas Royal Families are invited as well as heads of government, people from the world of tennis, commercial partners, British armed forces, prominent media organisations, supporters of British tennis and other walks of life."
As part of their attendance guests in the Royal Box are invited for lunch, tea and drinks at the end of the matches.
There is a strict dress code guests must adhere to which is officially listed as "dress is smart, suits/jacket and tie" and ladies are asked not to wear hats in order not to obscure the view.
Despite the royal name, it's not actually down to the Royal Family who gets invited for the two weeks of Wimbledon.
The invitations come from the Chair of the All England Club who is currently Debbie Jevans, former British tennis player.
Jevans will also take suggestions from "members of The Championships' Organising Committee, The Lawn Tennis Association and other relevant sources" according to the official Wimbledon website.
Over the years everyone from David Beckham, to Mary Berry, to Anna Wintour has taken a place on one of those coveted seats. And though you may see plenty of celebrities heading to Centre Court, they will not all be seated in the Royal Box, with many just in the regular stands as they have not received an invitation to the Royal Box.
Guests do not pay for their seats in the Royal Box and unfortunately there is no way of buying one, it is strictly invitation only.
Guess we'll just stick to queueing then.
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