The name tells the story... the Royal Box is reserved for members of the Royal Family and on Day 12 it hosted a veritable Tatler-worthy roll call, led by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester, Honorary President of the Lawn Tennis Association.
Alongside the Duchess were Their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, accompanied respectively by Tessa Kennedy, the doyenne of luxury interior design, and Lady Annabel Goldsmith, after whom society’s iconic nightclub in Berkeley Square is named.
Lady Helen Taylor, accompanied by her daughter Eloise, represented a blue-blooded tennis continuum as both her parents, Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Kent (neither present on Day 12), were for several decades associated with presenting the trophies on finals day.
The Earl of Snowdon, son of Princess Margaret and first cousin of The King, completed the royal line-up.
The Earl was accompanied by Charles Delevingne, a Wimbledon regular and father of models Poppy and Cara (who recently trod the boards as Sally Bowles in Cabaret) and thus well qualified to mingle with the starry dramatis personae that were All England Club Chair Deborah Jevans’s guests on men’s semi-finals day.
Amid the toast of Mayfair, Royal Box observers spotted a constellation of theatrical performers akin to a BAFTA gathering. Each revelled in excellent credentials for appreciating the heroics of the leading men on the grass court stage below.
To set a scene of a heroic action-packed thriller, who better than Dame Shirley Bassey, a three-time theme singer of James Bond films?
Should Carlos, Daniil, Novak or Lorenzo enjoy a purple patch of form, there was Rami Malek – who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury – ready to burst into Don’t Stop Me Now.
Hugh Grant was nicely poised to keep guests up to date with a player’s score: it’s ‘Love, actually’.
If a ball was called ‘good!’ would Felicity Kendal sit bolt upright in shock? It’s been a long time since the actress became a household name playing Barbara Good in the hilarious 1970s BBC sitcom The Good Life about living self-sufficiently in Surbiton.
As for Stanley Tucci, he has undertaken gastronomic television odysseys around Italy, and would be forgiven for having an affinity with the flavour of tennis conjured up by Tuscan-born Musetti, second up on Centre Court.
Actors make a natural audience for tennis; after all, luvvies need ‘big breaks’ just as much as competitors.
For James Norton, it was his role in the first season of Happy Valley that catapulted him to acclaim. For Damian Lewis, a role in Band of Brothers put him on a career trajectory that has included Homeland and Billions.
Neither have been afraid to play characters that attract controversy – in fact, they have been in their element doing so, landing plaudits and prizes – so whatever twists and turns of drama the semi-final protagonists produced, there was guaranteed professional empathy.
Like the guitar-playing Lewis, 1987 champion Pat Cash has rock music as a second string to his bow.
The Australian was one of a trio of former men’s singles champions enjoying the box-office show, sitting close to Michael Stich (1991) and Richard Krajicek (1996) with Claudia Santana, the widow of 1966 champion Manuel, in their midst.
Fellow Aussie Ash Barty famously took a break from tennis to play cricket, which gave her and India international cricketer Rohit Sharma the chance for a cameo appearance together.
After the Woodies' appearances in the Royal Box this year, it was the turn of their frequent opponent Jacco Eltingh, the 1998 men's doubles champion (partnering Paul Haarhuis), to enjoy the best invitation in town.
It was imaginative to see the Club honour the costume department, as in Polo Ralph Lauren, official outfitters to The Championships, represented by David Lauren, Chief Branding and Innovation Officer at Ralph Lauren Corporation.
… as was only fitting with the Chair of the Royal Opera, Sir Lloyd Dorfman, in the house as well as theatre director Rupert Goold (Dear England) and The Honourable Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A. Talk about connoisseurs of putting on a show or a great exhibition.
