Princess Kate made her return to Wimbledon yesterday after Kensington Palace confirmed earlier in the weekend that she would be attending the men’s final. This is the first time we’ve seen Kate since Trooping the Colour and, by comparison, since Trooping is about the king, that was a low-key appearance for her. 

 

On Sunday though, if we’re to take anything away from her outfit choice, and we all by now should accept that outfits are part of the work, Kate was there as the main character – and I’m not mad at it. If she’s feeling better and she wants to send a message to the public to assure them that she’s heading in the right direction with her health issues, showing up and showing out in a very noticeable purple dress is one way to do it. You could not miss her yesterday – that dress really, really popped, both in the box and on the court when she presented the trophy. 

Kate was joined by Charlotte and her sister Pippa. She was greeted warmly by the crowd and acknowledged the affectionate reception with a few waves. 

 

Charlotte was introduced to a number of tennis players, including this year’s Wimbledon champions Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejčíková who gifted Kate with her winning racquet. 

The money shot, however, is this one below – of Charlotte beaming up at her mother while the crowd is acknowledging her presence. It’s sweet image, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of it in the years to come. 

Princess Charlotte of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales court-side of Centre Court during the men's final on day fourteen of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2024 in London, England
 

Charlotte was sat between Kate and Pippa, two rows in front of some major star power. Julia Roberts, in tennis core, was there with her husband Danny Moder, next to Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter, and next to them, none other than Tom Cruise. Tom attended both the men’s and women’s final, and because I’m petty, I’ll point out yet again that he’s made an appearance on the weekend for a sporting event… but not last week’s major sporting event in England, the British Grand Prix. Seriously, I’m now more and more convinced that he’s avoiding F1 because of Brad Pitt. 

 

It's really too bad though that Julia and Tom weren’t sat next to each other. It would have been a rare sight. And it really hasn’t happened that much through the years, the decades, really. Two of the biggest movie stars Hollywood has ever produced and who’ve never worked together. One of the very few times they were photographed together, do you remember? 

Met Gala, the only time Julia has ever been to the Met Gala, and she was one of the co-chairs, along with George Clooney, in large part because the honorary designer co-chair that year was Giorgio Armani, with whom both have a longstanding relationship. 

Tom was still married to Katie Holmes, and at one point they all took a photo together – Anna Wintour, Tom, Katie, Julia, George. Also at one point Tom and Julia held hands and hugged. 

Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes attend THE COSTUME INSTITUTE GALA: "SUPERHEROES" with honorary chair GIORGIO ARMANI at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2008 in New York City
 

Last year, when Tom and director Christopher McQuarrie (who is seated next to Tom at Wimbledon) were promoting Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, Christopher revealed that he wanted Julia to make a cameo appearance in the movie in a flashback. Casting her in the role, however, would have required de-aging technology, and ultimately that ended up being too expensive when you factor in the cost of the tech and her salary, they didn’t have the budget. 

Luca Guadagnino, however, definitely has some budget. Julia’s in London because she’s working on his new film, After the Hunt, co-starring Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Chloe Sevigny. Social media is already losing its mind over this cast. As for whether or not Tom and Julia might ever be in a project together? Did anyone even see them talking yesterday at the match?