Kate Middleton receives bad news as Prince William visits Cornwall

Kate Middleton and her family are grieving the loss of a dear family friend, whose son was a famous tennis player, the Mirror reported.

Kate’s family, particularly her parents Carole and Michael, are said to have been close to Tony Henman, the father of former British tennis number one Tim Henman, who died on Friday aged 84.

Mr Henman and his wife Jane were invited to Prince William and Kate’s wedding at Westminster Abbey in 2011.

The two couples have been spotted together at Wimbledon over the years after the Middletons struck up a friendship with the former barrister and his wife.

In recent years, when Kate visited Wimbledon, Tim, who was a four-time semi-finalist at the All-England club, was seen sitting with the princess. The Middletons, including Kate and her sister Pippa, are known to be big tennis fans and have all been regulars at SW19 over the years.

But a year on, Kate revealed she was left “mortified” after her father Michael was involved in an embarrassing mix-up. Kate revealed the harrowing story in a 2017 BBC documentary called Our Wimbledon, presented by sports host Sue Barker.

She told Sue how her father tried to play it cool in front of former British tennis number one Tim. Kate explained: “My dad won’t appreciate this but I was walking past Tim Henman and had just seen (Pete) Sampras play. My father said very coldly, “Hi Pete.” I was mortified!”

The sad news comes as the prince, who holds the title Duke of Cornwall, made a trip to Fistral Beach shortly after his estranged brother Prince Harry was in Britain for an appearance at St Paul’s Cathedral for His Invictus Games.