Kate Middleton shares sweet message in honour of important achievement - and there’s a very rare detail fans might have missed

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends day 12 of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships
(Image credit: Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty)

Kate Middleton has shared a heartfelt message in celebration of tennis star Emma Raducanu’s recent major achievement and it includes a special detail.

Kate Middleton has congratulated British tennis player Emma Raducanu on her historic victory after she became the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final in 44 years. The 18-year-old is set to become the women’s British Number One when the new WTA rankings are released. Many members of The Firm are known for their love of the sport and the Duchess of Cambridge has often delighted fans with appearances at Wimbledon over the years.

It was just two months ago that Kate returned from self-isolation to present the trophy to this year’s women’s champion. Now Kate has shown her support for Emma ahead of her momentous US Open final this weekend - and the royal’s message contained a rare detail. 

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Re-posting Emma’s own delighted Tweet following her semi-final victory against Maria Sakkari, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s official Twitter account wished her the best of luck in the final.

What an incredible achievement at this year's #USOpen @EmmaRaducanu!’ the heartfelt caption read. ‘We will all be rooting for you tomorrow Wishing you the best of luck! C’. 

This already wonderful message is made all the more special given the deeply personal sign off used for the Tweet. Since Kate married Prince William in 2011, she has officially been known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. 

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends the Wimbledon Tennis Championships

The choice to sign off her congratulatory message ‘C’ for Catherine suggests that Kate Middleton herself composed the caption, adding a special level of significance. It is also understood to be a rare gesture, as the majority of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Tweets don’t have any specific sign off. 

However, the couple have previously made exceptions for particularly important Tweets or those that include messages extremely close to their hearts.

This was certainly the case earlier this year when Prince William spoke out to condemn the racist abuse of footballers, signing off his statement ‘W’. Meanwhile, the Queen also recently chose this personal approach when issuing a heartfelt message to the nation’s Paralympians.

Queen Elizabeth II arrives for the state banquet in her honour at Schloss Bellevue palace

She is understood to sign off official statements and communications with ‘Elizabeth R’ for Elizabeth Regina, the Latin word for Queen. However, as with the Cambridges, this is a much less common occurrence on social media. Kate Middleton's message to Emma was an equally wonderful moment in honour of a very important achievement.

A tennis lover herself, Kate will now no doubt be hoping to see Emma Raducanu secure victory in the US Open final. 

Emma Shacklock
Senior Lifestyle Writer

Emma is a Senior Lifestyle Writer with six years of experience working in digital publishing, ranging from book publishing to magazines. She currently looks after all things Lifestyle for Woman&Home, Goodto.com, and My Imperfect Life.