"Don't be nervous," Doncaster girl tells Kate in heartwarming Wimbledon meeting
A disabled Doncaster youngster gave Princess Kate some heartwarming advice when the pair met in a touching moment at Wimbledon, telling her: “Don’t be nervous.”
Eight-year-old Lydia Lowe had a few nuggets of wisdom for the Princess of Wales when the pair were introduced ahead of the ladies’ wheelchair singles final at the weekend.
Lydia, who suffered a devastating brain injury in 2024, was given the honor of performing the coin toss for the game.
After shaking her hand, the Princess of Wales asked the youngster whether she was 'nervous' about the coin toss, adding: 'Have you got any advice for me? Because I've got to go out.'
Lydia answered: 'Don't be nervous. Take deep breaths.'
Kate lit up and replied: 'Take deep breaths? OK, I'll remember that. Thank you.'
The royal then told Lydia she was a 'pro' and asked her 'what does it mean to you to come and do this?', with the eight-year-old replying: 'It means loads to me.'
Kate added that she wanted to say 'well done' and celebrate Lydia's 'bravery'.
Lydia loves tennis and has got back into the sport to help her recover from her brain injury, that has also left her visually impaired.
She said in an interview before doing the coin toss: 'When I first woke up I felt a bit light-headed and I couldn't believe that I was still here. It has been really hard for me as I was a fantastic tennis player before but since the injury it has been really hard.'
'My dream was to be in Wimbledon and now I am sort of being in Wimbledon so that is a dream come true for me.'
Lydia's mother, Leanne explained that it was tennis that helped Lydia regain the use of her left hand.
She said: 'As part of her rehabilitation, the doctors said to try and get Lydia back into doing things that she was doing before.
'She got taken onto a tennis court and she picked up her racket and all she wanted to do was use her left hand and that's how she's got her left hand back, through tennis.'