TALK OF THE TOWN: Bad sports! Newcomers upset old guard at the Princess of Wales's tennis club
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The boorish behaviour at the Princess of Wales’s tennis club, which I revealed last week, is being blamed on a ‘cabal’ of recent arrivals sidestepping the Hurlingham’s notoriously exacting application process. A disgruntled source tells me that a flurry of ‘bullish’ parvenus are upsetting the old order at the club where Prince William and his children George and Charlotte also practise their serves.
![[Boorish behaviour at Kate's club the Hurlingham has been blamed on new arrivals sidestepping its rigorous membership application process (file photo)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/14/19/93154105-14193373-image-a-32_1734205116875.jpg)
With the waiting list having closed in 2018, Hurlingham membership is now almost exclusively attained through inheritance or being born to a current member. But there is a loophole that allows people to be invited on to the tennis and cricket teams and become a so-called ‘sports member’.
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Dissatisfied old-money stalwarts are blaming some of these new arrivals for the ‘slipping decorum’ on the tennis courts, where some players are unleashing a volley of four-letter words, as I reported last week. And there is wider disquiet about the ‘aggressive culture of nepotism’ – gaining access to the hallowed grounds by knowing the right people.
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Sources tell me that some existing sports members have been using their clout to recruit friends. And once people are sports members, they can then enjoy the full run of the 155-year-old club, including its croquet lawn, gym and swimming pools, along with the beautifully landscaped gardens and views over the Thames.
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The Princess of Wales playing tennis with Emma Raducanu in September 2021 following the latter's US Open victory. Boorish behaviour at Kate's club the Hurlingham has been blamed on new arrivals sidestepping its rigorous membership application process (file photo).
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