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Every year, members of the British royal family can be counted on as regular attendees at Wimbledon, the world’s oldest tennis tournament, watching from the Royal Box at Centre Court. But 100 years ago, Prince Albert, then the Duke of York and soon to be King George VI, actually competed.
A new dad—he and wife Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, had welcomed Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) a few months earlier, in April 1926—Prince Albert teamed up with Sir Louis Greig for the doubles tournament. But, how did their partnership come to be?
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The future King George VI and Louis Leisler Greig in 1918.
Greig and then-Prince Albert met in 1909. “Louis and Albert first met on the Isle of Wight,” reports the Herald. “The prince was a naval cadet at Osborne, 13 years old, hesitant, stammering, unsure of himself and ill with whooping cough. Louis was a surgeon-lieutenant in the Navy, who had already attracted the attention of George V on the rugby field. He was famed for his swearing: it was said that people didn’t go to see Greig play, they went to hear him. He had once dropped a ball directly in front of the King, who was seated in the royal box, and being aware precisely of his position on the field, Greig had apparently said: ‘Oh b…other,’ and met the King’s amused glance in return. Louis was called in to treat young Albert when he suffered a bout of flu and whooping cough and the royal family was extremely grateful for his assistance.”
In 1914, Greig transferred to the Royal Marines, and was captured as a prisoner of war. After he was released in a prisoner exchange, he joined the company of HMS Malaya. In 1918, Albert appointed him as his equerry, and he was a mentor and advisor to the future King. As the Herald notes, “He was friend, mentor and guide to the future George VI. He was one of the most influential men in royal circles for years, and the most important courtier to George VI during the years the prince was growing up.” So, in 1926, when Greig won the RAF tennis championship and was awarded an automatic entry into Wimbledon. He invited Albert to be his partner, as Greig and the royal had previously won the RAF doubles title in 1920.
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The Duke of York, prepares to partner Wing Commander Sir Louis Greig in the Wimbledon Doubles Championship, 1926.
While Wimbledon organizers wanted to put the duo on Centre Court, the Duke of York didn’t want the spotlight. They compromised on Court 2, where the Duchess of York was in the stands to watch the match with her friends.
Greig and Albert lost in straight sets in the first round to another UK team, Herbert Roper Barrett and Arthur Gore, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2. Per Wimbledon.com, “Their first-round match was a bizarre occasion, since the opposition was provided by a pairing whose combined age totalled 110 years. Arthur Gore was still playing top level tennis at 58, while his partner, H. Roper Barrett, later to become Britain’s Davis Cup captain, was 52. Though the future king…was reputed to have a hard service and he and his partner had the advantage of youth over their opponents, experience told as the older pair won in straight sets.”
In her 1991 biography of King George VI, The Reluctant King: The Life and Reign of George VI, 1895-1952, Sarah Bradford wrote that a spectator recalled, “The Duke of York was very nervous and couldn’t play at all, at times lashing the ball with his racquet…The crowd began muttering and someone made the well-meaning suggestion to the left-handed Prince, ‘try the other hand, Sir.’”
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The duo during their match.
“When I was at school,” his grandson Geordie Greig shared decades later, “people who were quite elderly would sometimes say: ‘You’re not related to Louis Greig, are you?’ And then they would murmur something about ‘played tennis with the king.’ It was an episode that was much recalled by that generation, although the famous partnership was humiliatingly defeated. It was the high point of their friendship but the low point of tennis.”
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The Duke of York, later King George VI, playing at the Wimbledon tennis championships in 1926.
Wimbledon shared clips of the match on their YouTube in 2016, on the 90th anniversary of the match:
Sir Louis Greig became chairman of the All England Club in 1937, and served in that role until his death 1953. After World War II, he was frequently spotted with the royals in the Royal Box.
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Greig is seated to the right of Queen Mary.
King George remained an avid tennis player, but never again competed in a professional match. He did, however, return to Wimbledon as a spectator.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Deputy Digital Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms.