Kate, the Princess of Wales, hands Carlos Alcaraz his Wimbledon trophy in a rare appearance for her

Written by HOWARD FENDRICH and MATTIAS KAREN

Edited at [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], on [monthFull] [day], [year]

London (AP) - Kate, the Princess of Wales, gave Carlos Alcaraz the winner's trophy at the Wimbledon men's final at the All England Club on Sunday. This was just her second time being seen in public since revealing that she has cancer.

Kate, the wife of Prince William who is next in line to become king, received a warm welcome and applause when she entered the special seating area known as the Royal Box at Centre Court to watch Alcaraz defeat Novak Djokovic. Later on, after the match was over and the trophy had been awarded, Kate and Alcaraz had a chat in a private room located within the main stadium of the tournament.

"You did great out there," Kate said to him. "Celebrate the victory!"

Earlier, Kate, dressed in a purple dress that matches Wimbledon's official colors, descended from the stands to the playing field to hand out the trophies. This is one of her responsibilities as the patron of the All England Club, where the yearly tournament takes place.

She greeted the ball kids who helped out at the tournament, chatted with the players, and clapped for Alcaraz as she presented him with the first place trophy for the second consecutive year.

Kate and her 9-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte, arrived at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament in southwest London in a procession of vehicles approximately 30 minutes before the final was set to start. They visited a balcony at the club that is linked to the main stadium by a walkway for pedestrians and met with various individuals, including 2021 U.S. Open victor Emma Raducanu and several up-and-coming British tennis players.

Also present in the prestigious Royal Box during the final match were Pippa Matthews, Tom Cruise, Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as previous Wimbledon champions such as Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, and Stefan Edberg.

Kate has been the supporter of the All England Club since 2016. She was not present on Saturday when Barbora Krejcikova won the women's title against Jasmine Paolini.

In March, Kate shared that she was being treated for cancer with chemotherapy. She made her first public appearance since then at King Charles III's birthday parade last month. Prior to the event, she gave an update saying she was doing well overall but still had some challenging days.

Prince William usually attends Wimbledon finals, but he was not able to be there this past Sunday. Instead, he had plans to go to Germany to watch the final match of the men's soccer European Championship between England and Spain. He serves as the president of the English Football Association.

Queen Camilla, the spouse of King Charles III, paid a visit to Wimbledon on Wednesday.