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Prince & Princess of Wales

Duchess of Cambridge named Patron of Lawn Tennis Association after Her Majesty steps down

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge has been named as Patron of Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and will begin her role in 2017. The Duchess of Gloucester will remain as Honorary President. This comes after news broke yesterday that Her Majesty was stepping down from 25 of her patronages at the end of the year.

The Lawn Tennis Association paid tribute to The Queen yesterday in a statement. “On behalf of all the British Tennis family, I would like to thank Her Majesty for her many years of patronage and dedicated support of tennis in Great Britain.

“We were honoured to welcome Her Majesty to open the National Tennis Centre in 2007, and we are enormously proud of her association with our sport,” said Cathie Sabin, President of The LTA.

The LTA also spoke about the Duchess of Cambridge taking over as the patron of the organisation. They said, “We are excited to welcome HRH The Duchess of Cambridge as our Patron from 2017, and wish to thank HRH The Duchess of Gloucester for her continued and steadfast support as she remains in her role as Honorary President.”

Founded on 26 January 1888, the LTA is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. Its current president is Cathie Sabin, and the chief executive is Michael Downey.

Catherine becoming patron does not come as a surprise. She is a keen tennis player who attends the Wimbledon Championships each year and is an honorary member of the All England Tennis Club. She has also been quoted saying that tennis is the only sport at which she is able to beat the Duke of Cambridge.

Her Royal Highness will also become Patron of Wimbledon next year, and the Duke of Kent will remain in his role as President.

About author

Brittani is from Tennessee, USA. She is a political scientist and historian after graduating with a degree in the topics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in December 2014. She also holds a master's degree from Northeastern University. She enjoys reading and researching all things regarding the royals of the world. She's been researching, reading, and writing on royalty for over a decade. She became Europe Editor in October 2016, and then Deputy Editor in January 2019, and has been featured on several podcasts, radio shows, news broadcasts and websites including Global News Canada, ABC News Australia, WION India and BBC World News.