By Tom Sunderland
Attending Wimbledon isn’t as straightforward as visiting the other majors in tennis . And the criteria for a ticket in the Royal Box are even more strict than the usual red tape. So much so that even esteemed guests like Lewis Hamilton and Pippa Middleton can be denied access like anyone else. And that duo are just some of the famous faces to have failed in their efforts to comply with the rules over the years. Hamilton was educated on Wimbledon etiquette the hard way after he was invited to watch the men’s singles final from the Royal Box in 2015. However, he ended up missing the clash between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer after flaunting the dress code rules. Anyone sitting in the most prestigious seats available at SW19 is expected to dress smart, which means a tie is compulsory for men. Not only did Hamilton forget that, but he also turned up painfully late for the honour and was turned around at the door as a result. A source with knowledge of the situation said at the time: “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 won his first Formula 1 world championship with Mercedes around six months prior to the misunderstanding. He was also named BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2014, but that wasn’t enough to earn him an exemption for the royal treatment. Tardiness was also what resulted in Middleton – the younger sister of Kate, the Princess of Wales – and mum Carole being excluded from the box . That’s after they too turned up late and were prevented from sitting alongside their own family. That just goes to show how seriously Wimbledon staff take the matter. So much so that not even two extended members of the Royal Family can bag a seat if they don’t meet the requirements, though Pippa and Carole were permitted to take up two standard Centre Court seats instead. And they aren’t alone in that regard. That’s after Meghan Markle , the Duchess of Sussex, irked the Royal Box standard-bearers in 2019. Fans spotted the wife of Prince Harry wasn’t sitting next to the other members of the Royal Family, as she usually would be. And The Times reported that was due to the fact she was wearing denim jeans , which is frowned upon in Wimbledon members’ areas. The same report suggested the Los Angeles-born Royal angered organisers after leaving once Serena Williams had played her match. Andy Murray was yet to play at the time, and it’s considered poor form for Royal Box attendees to miss any British players in action. “She wanted to come incognito but there were problems,” said an All England Club source, per The Times. “They couldn鈥檛 invite her into the royal box because she was wearing jeans but that didn鈥檛 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 barred from entering the Royal Box in 2017 due to comments he made at the Fed Cup that year. The then-Romania captain made sexist remarks when he labelled the British duo of Anne Keothavong and Johanna Konta “f*****g b*****s” and was banned from the competitions for three years as a result. It’s somewhat gratifying to think even household names are held to the same standard as anyone else. But then not all of us have the privilege of being asked to rub shoulders with royalty for one of the greatest shows in all of sport.