Meghan Markle's Next Public Appearance Could Be In Support Of This Close Pal

It looks like summer is officially here (if this glorious weather decides to hold up), and you know what that means — Wimbledon. Whether you know your rackets from your strawberries and cream, it's prime time to settle in and watch the masters at work. The tennis competition is also the perfect opportunity for some royal watching, and if recent tradition is anything to go by we might see two beautifully familiar faces in the stands this year. But will Meghan Markle go to Wimbledon 2019?

Well according to reports, an appearance from the Duchess of Sussex at the famed courts may be pretty likely. Even though Markle is still on maternity leave, she did attend Trooping the Colour in early June alongside Prince Harry, so an appearance at another event isn't out of the cards. According to Entertainment Tonight, Markle is expected to attend the event to support "her close pal" Serena Williams who will be competing for her eighth grand slam victory this year. A source told the publication that the only thing that may keep her from appearing at the event "is if 'the baby keeps her home last minute'."

Back in April, Williams opened up her relationship with the Duchess, and the part she played in planning Markle's New York baby shower. "Planning something like that takes a lot of effort," she told fashion resource Business of Fashion. "I'm a perfectionist, so I'm like, 'Let's make it perfect.' It's been a lot the last few days." With that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if Markle didn't make at least a small appearance during Williams' sets over the competition.

But as a royal source told Elle earlier this month, Markle could be following in Middleton's footsteps with her maternity leave last year. Speaking about Markle's first appearance since Archie's birth, the source said: "This is similar to the Duchess of Cambridge's maternity leave where she made a few appearances at family and personal events (Trooping the Colour and Wimbledon) but did not carry out any official duties as a member of the Royal Family during maternity leave."

Markle and Williams' friendship goes pretty far back, and while the two don't spend as much time with each other as they used to Williams mentioned their friendship in an interview with chat show The Project last September. "You know, we, I think have known each other for a long time. But we really are relying on each other a lot lately," she told host Lisa Wilkinson. She also spoke of the royal wedding, where she felt that the world was "literally watching history".

Williams also gave Markle some stellar parenting advice in an interview with E! News in April, saying that the Duchess will "be the best mom, for sure" and to "[a]ccept mistakes and don't expect to be perfect. We put so much pressure on ourselves."

Even though the likelihood of seeing Archie with Markle at Wimbledon is very, very slim, it's still nice to think that Williams will have a chance at meeting him while she's in the UK.