Kate Middleton ignited major debate after breaking decades-old Wimbledon 'rule'

Kate Middleton once sparked a major debate amidst royal fans after breaking a decades-old Wimbledon 'rule'.

The 43-year-old Princess of Wales has been a regular attendee of the various Wimbledon tournament matches over the years and, given her royal status, she watches the tennis games in the Royal Box.

As we know, there are some pretty strict rules when it comes to the highly coveted 74-seat suite inside Centre Court which is strictly invite-only, meaning no tickets are sold to the general public.

Dress code is a massive deal, with blokes expected to wear a jacket and tie or a full suit, while women have to follow a 'smart attire' dress-code.

"Ladies are asked not to wear hats, as they tend to obscure the vision of those seated behind them," the official website adds.

Kate Middleton broke a major Royal Box rule at Wimbledon in 2022 (Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty Images)

However, despite such a rule, it's clear some royals wear one anyway, with both Kate and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, wearing one to keep cool in the summer heat.

But, as we've seen time and time again, the treatment Kate got by the media and royalists alike was very different to that which Meghan received.

Back in 2018, Kate and Meghan attended the Ladies' Single Final together in their first-ever outing without their husbands with the latter being papped holding a white straw hat with a black band above the brim.

However, she never wore the headpiece as she watched Angelique Kerber take on Serena Williams.

Meghan Markle wore a hat to Wimbledon in 2019 when she wasn't in the Royal Box (Karwai Tang / Contributor / Getty Images)

She had previously worn the same hat while attending the tennis tournament in 2016 - the year she and Prince Harry first started dating.

Then, in 2019, Meghan returned to the sporting event to watch Williams playing against Slovenia's Kaja Juvan.

She wore her hat with jeans a white blazer, but she wasn't sitting in the Royal Box at the time reportedly due to her trouser choice breaking the rules.

She was called out by many outlets and the relentless and untiring anti-Meghan brigade for bringing along the hat to the Royal Box in 2018 - despite not even wearing it.

However, when Kate - who actually was sitting in the Royal Box - wore her very oversized wide-brimmed hat in 2022, she was applauded for her fashion-forward thinking.

Some publications at the time did comment on the double-standard, with the Express pointing out: "Kate breaks style protocol at Wimbledon – but Meghan forced to follow the 'fashion rules'."