“Catch it like Beckham” was the headline seven years ago after the former England football captain showed instinctive reflexes to grasp a ball that shot from a wayward serve into the Royal Box during a men’s doubles semi-final match in which Jamie Murray and John Peers went on to beat Jonathan Erlich and Philipp Petzschner.

Beckham, accompanied by his mother Sandra, was again a guest on Day 10 at this, the 135th Championships. Af for fielding, he was in good company with former England cricketer The Hon Chris Cowdrey, who was hailed during his career playing for Kent, Glamorgan and England for being a safe pair of hands.

For 100 years, the Royal Box has been reserved for members of the Royal Family – representatives on Wednesday were the Princess Royal’s son Peter Phillips and the Duke of Kent’s daughter Lady Helen Taylor with their partners – and a host of illustrious guests invited by the All England Club Chairman Ian Hewitt.

Imagine the dramatic scenes and heroic storylines witnessed from the rows of Lloyd Loom wicker chairs over the last century: last-gasp wins, sublime displays of artistry, psychological thrillers, catastrophic attacks of nerves… players overwhelmed by happiness or despair, winners performing acrobatic shows of exhilaration, losers biting their lip or burying their heads in a towel to recover composure.

No matter the outcome of the quarter-final action between Simona Halep and Amanda Anisimova or Taylor Fritz and Rafael Nadal on Centre Court, one guest will have seen every variety of expression of which a human is capable: Gemma Chan.

The London-born actress has starred in films such as Eternals, about a race of immortal beings with superhuman powers (hello Rafa) and action epics like Captain Marvel and Raya and the Last Dragon, in both of which she plays female warriors (hello Simona). Nothing if not versatile, Chan has acted alongside Hollywood's glitziest stars in many types of role and even taken on the part of a servile anthropomorph in the sci-fi series Humans. 

If there is anyone immune to being star-struck by fellow guests or the tennis elite, it must be Sir Michael Parkinson. Knighted in 2008 for services to broadcasting, he interviewed more than 2,000 of the world’s most famous people for his eponymous television chat show, which ran until 2007.

The first edition of Parkinson aired on BBC1 51 years ago and featured an interview with Arthur Ashe, who four years later beat Jimmy Connors to become the 1975 Wimbledon champion.

Ashe’s close friend, the 1972 Wimbledon men’s singles champion Stan Smith, was also present, three days after he had walked out in the Parade of Champions that marked 100 years of Centre Court. Other representatives from the playing ranks of tennis in the Royal Box today included the great Rod “the rocket” Laver (Wimbledon champion in 1961, 1962, 1968 and 1969) and the British former world No.13 Mark Cox.

Emerging from the shadow of the great court’s 100th anniversary, Jonny Marray was marking his own 10th anniversary of a fairytale victory in the men’s doubles.

In 2012, Marray and Frederik Nielsen, wild card entrants in the tournament, won the final in five sets, beating the experienced duo Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecău. Marray remains the only Brit to win the men’s doubles at Wimbledon since 1936 – yes, the very same year that Fred Perry won his last men’s singles title.

Celebrity guests sat among a host of expert tennis event organisers which included Donald Dell, President for Media & Events at SPORTFIVE, Vice Chairman, International Tennis Hall of Fame, and Luke Nunneley, Chairman of the Hurlingham Club, which hosted a pre-Championships exhibition match with Rafa, Novak, Alcaraz, Auger-Aliassime and Ruud.

Ian Hewitt also welcomed again his counterparts from the Australian and US Opens – Jayne Hrdlicka, President & Chair of Tennis Australia and Mike McNulty, Chairman & President of USTA, as well as Ugo Valensi, Executive Director of the Grand Slam Board and former AELTC CEOs Ian Ritchie and Chris Gorringe.

Also in the house was Sir Patrick Vallance, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and an authoritative figure on national television news screens during the pandemic. His presence reflected the Club’s desire this year to recognise people who work towards making global society better for all.

There can be few sportsmen or women whose trophy count outnumbers Rafa, but Royal Box guests Sir Jason Kenny – appearing in tandem with his wife Dame Laura – soundly beat him in the Olympic gold-medal numbers game. Kenny has seven and Laura has five to Rafa's one from Beijing in 2008.

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