"She loved tennis and tennis players" - When Chris Evert reminisced about having tea with Princess Diana
Chris Evert was one of the superstars at Wimbledon back in her playing days and won the Venus Rosewater trophy thrice while finishing as a runner-up seven times. With that, came the opportunity to meet and interact with members of the Royal Family, and Evert had the pleasure of meeting Princess Diana twice.
Evert first met the former Princess of Wales during the 1981 Wimbledon Championships, shortly after Princess Diana's engagement to Prince Charles and before their wedding.
Speaking during her appearance on the 'Midnight Meets with Colin Murray' podcast some time ago, Evert spoke about her meetings with Princess Diana, during which they had tea together. Evert stated that the princess loved tennis and held great affection for tennis players.
"You could tell that she loved tennis and loved tennis players. You can tell she loved her kids and she was a great mom," Chris Evert said when asked about her experience of meeting Princess Diana over tea.
She added that she was inquisitive to find out whether Prince Charles also liked tennis and attended matches at Wimbledon, and asked Princess Diana about the same.
"I remember saying, 'Does your husband ever come to Wimbledon?' She just rolled her eyes and said, 'Uh, no. He hates tennis, doesn't like it at all, he's somewhere else'," Evert said.
The seven-time French Open singles champion also reminisced about learning about the late Princess Diana's passion for tennis back in the day.
"I used to see pictures of her all the time with her tennis racquet and walking in London trying to go play at one of the clubs. But it was really exciting," Evert added.
"Very shy, soft-spoken to very friendly and almost vivacious" - Chris Evert on the difference in Princess Diana's personality over their two meetings
Chris Evert also shed light on the difference in the personality of Princess Diana over both their meetings, which took place a few years apart from each other. The first time they met, Evert observed that the princess was very shy and did not speak much. However, she was very polite.
"I had tea with her (Princess Diana) twice. The first time I had tea with Princess Diana was when she was engaged to Charles, and I remember she came to tea and she was the ice, very shy. Soft-spoken, not sophisticated at all, just a lovely young woman. She was very quiet, didn't have much to say, and just very polite," Chris Evert said.
Their second meeting came at a time when Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married and their son Prince William was already born by then. This time, Evert met a more sophisticated and much friendlier Princess of Wales. Evert stated that the difference in her personality over both meetings was like "night and day."
"The second time, all quaffed, and the jewelry, and the makeup, very sophisticated clothing, and it was like night and day over a period of 2-3 years. Very friendly and almost vivacious, very talkative," Evert added.
Chris Evert won three Wimbledon singles titles, with the last one coming in 1981. She also won the women's doubles title at SW19 in 1976. Overall, she won as many as 21 Major titles across singles and doubles, including six US Open titles and seven Roland Garros trophies.