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Summary
Queen Elizabeth returned to Wimbledon on Thursday (June 24) for the first time in 33 years with bookmakers offering odds of 12-1 that she would be confronted by a streaker on Centre Court. The Queen, who was wearing a mid-blue and white coat and a matching hat, was greeted on her arrival by officials from the All England Club. The last time the Queen visited Wimbledon in her Silver Jubilee year of 1977, Virginia Wade won the women's singles title for Britain.Bookmakers entered into the spirit of the sporting occasion with Ladbrokes offering punters odds on the chance of a streaker disrupting play. With security extra tight, the bet did not look that appealing. Former women's champions Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova were in a line up of tennis stars introduced to the monarch, including current champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams, Williams' sister Venus and women's fourth seed Jelena Jankovic. The Queen will miss some historic action that everyone wants to see -- American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut resume the longest match tennis has ever seen at 59-59 in the final set of their epic marathon on Court 18. Queen Elizabeth's greatest sporting passion has always been horse racing. She never misses a day at Royal Ascot, parading down the course in an open landau every year. But her father was a keen tennis player. Before his accession, King George VI competed in the men's doubles at the 1926 championships.
