The Duchess of Cornwall has put Andy Murray’s sweatband, thrown to her after the Scot’s match at Wimbledon, on eBay, to raise money for the Royal Veterinary College Animal Care Trust.
The Duchess had been watching Murray at Wimbledon when the Chairman of the tennis club, Philip Brook, caught the sweat-drenched band that the British tennis ace threw into the crowds. Mr Brook handed it to Camilla, and she put it in her handbag.
Camilla has since asked the tennis ace to sign the band, and fans keen to get their hands on a piece of tennis history, have already put the bids at over £2,000.
Photographers and cameras everywhere captured the moment on centre court, when Camilla seemed a little bemused at the used sweatband, despite being a tennis fan.
Murray, who lost in semi-finals to Roger Federer, said he had not meant to aim the sweatband towards the Royal box: “It wasn’t at all on purpose, I was trying to throw it into where all of the fans were and it kind of bent right round to the left.”
“I saw (the Duchess) and Phil Brook just after the match when I was walking back to the locker rooms and I said to Phil ‘I saw I hit you with the wristband’.”
“The Duchess just opened up her bag and she had it,” Murray said, speaking in a BBC interview.
The Royal Veterinary College Animal Care Trust was personally chosen by Mr Murray to benefit from the sale, after he was sent a list of 500 which Camilla supports.
The eBay listing says that the band ‘is safely kept at Clarence House, the London home of TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall’. The piece comes with a certificate of authenticity, from Wimbledon’s CEO, Richard Lewis.
The RVC ACT raises funds to help provide cutting edge equipment for the RVC’s hospitals, assistance to the College’s research teams and support for the College’s commitment to producing the best veterinary professionals and scientists of the future.
The auction ended today, and made £2,100 after 45 bidders battled it out.
Photo: screenshot of eBay auction site