Gaining entry to Wimbledon’s coveted Royal Box isn’t a walk in the park, with stringent rules that even high-profile figures like Lewis Hamilton and Pippa Middleton have stumbled over. The demanding standards at SW19 dictate that men must don a tie to be granted access to these illustrious seats, a detail which saw Hamilton learn the rules of Wimbledon fashion the hard way when he missed the epic Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer final in 2015 for breaching the dress code.
Indeed, the Formula 1 superstar was turned away from the prestigious event after arriving not only tieless but also unfashionably late. An insider recalled the incident, revealing: “Lewis turned up an hour late and wasn’t wearing a tie. He was told he would need to put one on to enter the box but he threw a bit of hissy fit, which lasted a couple of minutes, and then left. There is a strict dress code, and the staff manning the box had no choice. He was asked not to enter the box.” Hamilton, 40, had clinched his first F1 world championship with Mercedes just six months before the misunderstanding. Despite being crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2014, this accolade did not grant him immunity from Royal protocol.
Punctuality issues also led to Middleton – younger sister of Kate, the Princess of Wales – and her mother Carole being barred from the box. They arrived late and were denied the opportunity to sit with their family.
This incident underscores the seriousness with which Wimbledon staff enforce these rules, with even two extended members of the Royal Family unable to secure a seat if they fail to adhere to the guidelines. That said, Pippa and Carole were allowed to occupy two standard Centre Court seats.
They are not the only ones to have fallen foul of these regulations. Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, upset the Royal Box custodians in 2019.
Spectators noticed that Prince Harry‘s wife was not seated next to other Royal Family members as she typically would be. The Times reported that this was because she was wearing denim jeans, attire deemed inappropriate in Wimbledon members’ areas.
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The same report suggested that the Los Angeles-born Royal annoyed organisers by departing after Serena Williams had completed her match. Andy Murray was still to play, and it is viewed as bad manners for Royal Box guests to miss any British players’ matches.
“She wanted to come incognito but there were problems,” an All England Club source revealed to The Times. “They couldn’t invite her into the royal box because she was wearing jeans but that didn’t really matter because all she wanted to do was come and watch Serena. Andy Murray was on Court 1 afterwards and it was a massive faux pas not to watch a Brit when she is signed up to the royal family.”
Former world No. 1 Ilie Nastase was also denied entry to the Royal Box in 2017 due to comments he made at the Fed Cup that year. The Romanian caused outrage with an offensive remark, labelling the British duo of Anne Keothavong and Johanna Konta “f*****g b*****s” and was subsequently banned from the competitions for three years.