Sue Barker’s incredible broadcasting career for the BBC saw her enjoy being right in the thick of all the action. As part of her iconic role, the former French Open winner got to interview some of the biggest names, ranging from athletes to the royal family.
On one occasion, during her work on the 2017 BBC One documentary ‘Our Wimbledon’, Barker set off around the world to find out what makes the green grass of the All England Club so special for tennis fans. That led to an interview with the Duke of Kent, as well as Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, who is a known tennis fan and is often seen in the SW19 stands with her family. During that interview, Princess Kate recalled one cringeworthy experience where her dad, Michael Middleton, mistook British tennis legend Tim Henman for 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras.
Barker told the story in her 2024 book, Wimbledon: A Personal History, which gives her account of the major, from competing as a junior to hanging up her mic more than half a century later in 2022.
The 69-year-old wrote: “During the filming of my Our Wimbledon documentary, I interviewed both the Duke of Kent and Catherine, now Princess of Wales. Catherine was so lovely to talk to too. I waited in a room in Kensington Palace with producer Carl Doran and the camera crew.
“We were all a bit on edge and then in she came and put us all at ease, even saying she was a bit nervous as she hadn’t given many interviews. (I’m sure she said that to make me feel better.) She was a natural in front of the camera and what came across in the interview was her obvious love for the game from an early age.
“Tennis is a family passion and the Middletons came to queue and watch Wimbledon most years. She told me how mortified she was when her father once mistook Tim Henman for Pete Sampras.
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“‘My father is not going to appreciate this, but we were walking past Tim Henman and we had just seen Sampras play. And dad said very coolly, ‘Hi Pete.’ I was mortified!’”
Princess Kate would have had plenty of opportunities to meet Henman and make amends since then. She regularly watches high-profile matches from the royal box and presents the tournament’s finalists with their trophies, the most recent being men’s singles winner Carlos Alcaraz in 2024.