Serena’s cryptic tweet ...with a telling cuppa

SERENA Williams stoked the speculation over which friends spoke out for the Duchess of Sussex by posting an intriguing message on Twitter yesterday.

The tennis champion, a close friend who attended Meghan’s wedding celebrations, shared a glamorous picture of her drinking out of a mug, right, to her 10million followers, accompanied by the words: ‘Sips tea...’

While it looked like she may have been simply sharing a picture from a glossy magazine shoot, the post is understood to have significant meaning – according to the Urban Dictionary, ‘sips tea’ is slang for gossip.

People who post memes – images or videos – of people sipping tea are seen as discreetly disclosing ‘valuable, interesting or useful information’.

The pair have been close for more than a decade. Last week it was reported that the duchess was being advised by Miss Williams’s PR team after Kensington Palace’s official social media channels were targeted by trolls posting racist and sexist abuse. Yesterday’s posting raises questions as to whether that team were behind the People magazine article.