Prince William is anticipated to make an appearance in the Royal Box at Wimbledon at some point this summer – and he also shares a lesser-known connection to a tennis legend.
The Prince of Wales regularly attends the prestigious annual tournament alongside his wife, Princess Catherine, and their two eldest children.
The Royal Family has a longstanding association with Wimbledon, with the late Queen Elizabeth II becoming patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC), where the tournament is held, in 1952 – a role now assumed by the Princess of Wales.
Prince William and Prince Harry are also close friends with Alexander Gilkes, who has been engaged to Maria Sharapova, one of the most accomplished tennis players in history, since 2020.
Alexander first met William when both were students at Eton College, and the two maintained a close bond over the years as he established himself as a prominent art dealer, co-founding the online auction house Paddle8 in 2011.
Alexander Gilkes has been dating Maria Sharapova since 2018 (Image: PA)
Prior to his relationship with Maria, Alexander was married to fashion designer Misha Nonoo, a mutual friend of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who was rumored to have introduced the couple.
The businessman and Grand Slam champion began their relationship in 2018 and welcomed their son, Theodore, in July 2022, at which point they put plans for a “big wedding” on hold.
While Alexander has not spoken publicly about his friendship with William and Harry, he was among the guests at William and Kate’s wedding in 2011.
He is also a close friend of Princess Eugenie, whom he reportedly calls “Eug”, worked at Paddle8 for two years after graduating from university.
The couple announced that Alexander had proposed in December 2020, with Maria posting a selfie on Instagram with the caption: “I said yes from the first day we met. This was our little secret, wasn’t it.”
Alexander shared in his own post: “Thank you for making me a very, very happy boy. I look forward to a lifetime of loving you and learning from you.”
The tennis pro indicated they were “not in a rush” to marry in a 2024 interview and would probably do so “in the next couple of years”.
“We were going to have a big wedding, and then I got pregnant, and so we haven’t scheduled a new wedding yet,” she told People Magazine.
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