In the year 2015, the prestigious Wimbledon was ramping up for a glorious finish, with the legendary Roger Federer standing up against Novak Djokovic for the final showdown. Unsurprisingly, the massive hype attracted several British celebrities to the center court, and Lewis Hamilton was about to be one of them.
Unfortunately, what followed was a rather unpleasant experience for the 7-time world champion, who ended up having a ‘hissy fit’ with the authorities, and eventually left the stadium without watching the game. It is a known fact that Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the entire world, with its first-ever appearance dating back to the 1800s.
In the Royal Box at #Wimbledon today, the great and good from the sporting world… pic.twitter.com/j0YD3pUa23
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2018
Hence, considering its overwhelming history and century-long tradition, the extravagant London-based event features a set of stringent rules, especially when it comes to the royal box on the center court. The box has 74 seats reserved exclusively for the royal family and other special guests. But, there’s a mandatory dress code. A male entrant must wear a suit or jacket and a tie.
Lewis Hamilton faces humiliation at Wimbledon
As reported by Express, the British world champion was unaware of the dress code and ended up wearing a shirt without a tie. Hence, upon arrival, the authorities denied Hamilton entry into the box, which led to a rather heated discussion between the two.
Following the incident, a source said, “Lewis turned up an hour late and wasn’t wearing a tie. He was told he would need to put one on to enter the box but he threw a bit of hissy fit, which lasted a couple of minutes, and then left. There is a strict dress code and the staff manning the box had no choice, he was asked not to enter the box.”
Interestingly though, Hamilton wasn’t the only celebrity who faced humiliation, as Princess Kate’s sister, too, had to relocate to the standard seats after failing to make it to the game on time.
Hamilton disappointed after the awkward Wimbledon incident
Although Hamilton chose not to speak of the incident, his spokesperson revealed the truth to the media. The 7-time world champion was undoubtedly disappointed after having missed the highly anticipated Wimbledon finals due to a simple misunderstanding.
Dress code error, but Lewis Hamilton will be welcome back to the Wimbledon Royal Box in future http://t.co/5iEUMzACGs pic.twitter.com/dZZBkVsc2b
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 13, 2015
“Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding regarding the dress code at Wimbledon, Lewis is very disappointed to have missed the men’s final,” the spokesperson said.
Overall, the 2015 finals had a star-studded attendance featuring some of the most famous Hollywood stars like Benedict Cumberbatch, Bradley Cooper, Hugh Grant, and many more.