Kate Middleton gets bad news while 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 reports.

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

Mr Henman and his wife Jane were guests at the wedding of Prince William and Kate at Westminster Abbey in 2011.

The two couples have been spotted together at Wimbledon over the years after Middleton befriended the former lawyer and his wife.

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

But one year, Kate revealed she was left “saddened” after her father Michael was involved in an embarrassing affair. Kate revealed the sobering story in a 2017 BBC documentary called Our Wimbledon, presented by sports host Sue Barker.

She told Sue how her father had tried to remain calm in front of Tim, the former British number one tennis player. Kate explained: “My dad won’t appreciate it, but we were passing Tim Henman’s and we just saw [Pete] Sampras plays. My dad said very calmly: ‘Hi Pete’. I was humiliated!”

The sad news comes as the prince, who holds the title of Duke of Cornwall, traveled to Fistral Beach shortly after being in the UK for his estranged brother Prince Harry’s appearance at St Paul’s Cathedral for the Invictus Games.