Before the courtiers: Kate Middleton watches play on court one at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, July 2, 2007.
Long before Kate Middleton became a Duchess, she was already acting like a lady.
In a letter dated July 12, 2008, Middleton, then dubbed Waity Katie by the tabloids, thanked the All England Club for helping her roam the grounds incognito the previous week.
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“Dear Sir. Thank you for your kind hospitality at Wimbledon last week,” she writes in cursive script. “My friend and I had such a fantastic time and it was great to be able to enjoy the day knowing that we could have a little peace and quite [sic] if things got a little too hectic.”
“It was a wonderfully relaxed day and we even spent part of it on the ‘Henman/Murray Hill'”—a grassy mound from which the public can watch a jumbo-tron showing matches—”which was great fun. I really was not expecting to be looked after with such hospitality and I certainly wasn’t expecting to see any of the Centre Court games.”
“I do hope the end of the tournament runs smoothly and this fantastic weather lasts ’till [sic] the end of the week.”
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The letter, now on display in a glass case in the All England Club museum, is one of the few known samples of the Duchesses’ handwriting. Officials kept the letter private for years. But following the royal wedding, they decided to make it public after receiving permission from the newly-minted Catherine.
Had she reviewed the letter, however, Catherine may not have been so keen to share it with the world. As seen above, she writes “quiet” as “quite,” and confuses ’till with ’til. Spelling errors aside, rumors continue to swirl that Kate, a die-hard tennis fan, will make an appearance at SW19 next week. Returning as a Duchess instead of a girlfriend-in-waiting, she can rest assured someone from her retinue will give any missives a proper spell check. (via The Evening Standard)
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William Lee Adams is a writer-reporter at TIME’s London bureau. Find him on Twitter at @willyleeadams. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.