Wimbledon 2021 will be he worth the wait, says Kate - but it won’t be insured
The Duchess of Cambridge has narrated a video to mark what would have been the opening day of Wimbledon, telling tennis fans it will be “worth the wait” when the championships return in 2021.
Kate, a patron of the All England Lawn Tennis, urged fans to bide their time until they are back on the edge of their seats.
The duchess, a keen tennis fan, said in the short film released by the All England Club yesterday: “Over the years, your support has shaped this historic event. No matter the time of day, nor the names on the scoreboard, you have always been there come rain or shine.
“This year, sadly though, things are very different, but we will bide our time until we sit on the edge of seats again, and celebrate again.
“So when the time is right and we open the gates, we will be back again and it will have been worth the wait.”
The All England Club would usually be bustling with fans enjoying strawberries and cream at this time of year, but organisers decided in April to cancel the oldest grand slam event on the tennis calendar for the first time since the Second World War due to the coronavirus outbreak.
While some sports have returned or are about to return to action, the early decision to cancel Wimbledon was easier to make because of the pandemic insurance premium the club has been paying for the past 17 years.
The All England Club chief executive Richard Lewis warned yesterday, however, that Wimbledon may not be able to survive a second cancellation next year because it is “impossible” to get pandemic insurance for 2021.
He also emphasised that an insurance pay out was not the motivation for cancelling this year’s event.
He said: “We cancelled because we had to cancel. There was absolutely no ifs nor buts.
“The fact we had insurance was incidental in the sense it’s then triggered once you make the decision to cancel.
“If we could have staged the championships in some shape or form then we would have done.”