Lewis Hamilton shared his pride this afternoon about receiving a much-coveted invite to the Royal Box for the men's singles final - but come the match, he wasn't seen sitting there. What happened?
What Lewis Hamilton could (and couldn't) have worn in the Royal Box at Wimbledon
"Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding regarding the dress code at Wimbledon, Lewis is very disappointed to have missed the men's final," said a spokesperson for the reigning F1 champion on Sunday evening (July 12).
It appears that the Mercedes Grand Prix driver's outfit - a patterned floral shirt, pale chinos and a summer hat - fell foul of the All England Club's smart dress code for the Royal Box.
Wimbledon's official website states: "Protocol - dress is smart, suits/jacket and tie, etc. Ladies are asked not to wear hats, as they tend to obscure the vision of those seated behind them."
"If [Lewis] was not adequately dressed you could infer that he would not have been let in, but we do not comment on our guests," a spokesman for the club told The Telegraph.
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"If he came without a jacket, tie or shoes he would have had two choices - not staying or going to get some extra stuff.
"He did come [to Wimbledon] but he has gone. We are not commenting further."
Djokovic triumphed over Federer in four sets on Centre Court today, winning 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (10-12) 6-4 6-3 to take his third Wimbledon title.
Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
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