After his Wimbledon career came to a sudden and startling end, the Princess of Wales sent a message to tennis star Andy Murray.

Murray, who has twice won the Wimbledon’s men’s singles championship, was forced to withdraw from the singles competition earlier in the week; and his doubles partner withdrew from the doubles tournament over the weekend due to stiffness in her wrists.

“An incredible Wimbledon career comes to an end. You should be so very proud, Andy Murray. On behalf of all of us, thank you! C” Catherine wrote on social media.

At a press conference to announce his withdrawal from the tournament, Murray said: “It is hard because I would love to keep playing but I can’t.”

Murray became the first British tennis player to win the Wimbledon men’s singles championship in 80 years in 2013, the one year Catherine was forced to miss the tournament.

Catherine, who is a lifelong tennis fan and became the Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club since 2016, was too heavily pregnant with Prince George at the time Murray won his first championship. In a 2017 documentary, she revealed that she wrote him a letter afterwards praising his win and apologising for missing the match.

During the pandemic, Catherine and Murray teamed up for a Zoom call with tennis-playing students from Bond Primary School in London.

Catherine has so far missed all of Wimbledon due to her ongoing chemotherapy treatment. She returned briefly to royal duties last month for Trooping the Colour, but revealed in a statement that her medical team foresees a few more months of treatment before she can return.

Until then, she said that she hopes to be able to attend some events over the summer, but this will be contingent upon her health at the time.