LONDON (AP) — Kate, the Princess of Wales, handed out the trophy to Iga Swiatek and some consoling words to Amanda Anisimova after the women's Wimbledon final on Saturday.
Swiatek beat Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 for her first Wimbledon title.
Click to Gallery
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales smiles as she sits in the Royal Box on Centre Court ahead of the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Kate, Princess of Wales participates in the presentation ceremony for the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's Kate, the Princess of Wales, arrives to hand over the trophy to Iga Swiatek of Poland after winning the women's singles final match against Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. receives her runners-up trophy from Kate, Princess of Wales, after losing to Poland's Iga Swiatek during the women's single final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales presents the Venus Rosewater Dish to Iga Swiatek, following her victory over Amanda Anisimova in the Ladies' Singles Final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Ben Whitley/PA via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales, with AELTC chair Debbie Jevans, right, arrives to attend the women's singles final between Poland's Iga Swiątek and Amanda Anisimova of the US at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/Pool via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales arrives to attend the women's singles final between Poland's Iga Swiątek and Amanda Anisimova of the US at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/Pool via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales arrives to attend the women's singles final between Poland's Iga Swiątek and Amanda Anisimova of the US at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/Pool via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales waves as she arrives with Deborah Jevans of the All England Club to attend the women's singles final between Poland's Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova of the US at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales arrives to attend the women's singles final between Poland's Iga Swiątek and Amanda Anisimova of the US at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/Pool via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales awaits the arrival of France's President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron in Windsor, England, Tuesday July 8, 2025, on the first day of a three-day state visit to Britain. (Chris Jackson/Pool via AP)
Kate, the wife of Prince William, is the patron of the All England Club and has regularly attended the men’s and women’s finals. However, she did not attend last year's women's final while she was recovering from cancer.
On Saturday, she was greeted by a standing ovation from the Centre Court crowd as she entered the Royal Box just before the final between the eighth-seeded Swiatek and No. 13 Anisimova started.
After the match, she took part in the trophy presentation on court, first handing the runner-up trophy to Anisimova and then the Venus Rosewater Dish to Swiatek.
She also offered up some words of encouragement to Anisimova, who was in tears after the one-sided defeat.
“I wasn’t sure if she was going to come out today, if she was going to be there,” Anisimova said. “So it was just really nice to see her. She definitely had a few things to say that were making me emotional again. But yeah, she was really kind. She told me to keep my head high.”
After leaving the court following the ceremony, the princess and Swiatek had a conversation in a room inside the tournament’s main stadium before the Polish player walked out onto a balcony to show the trophy to the crowd waiting outside.
“I don’t remember (what she said) really, because I was too overwhelmed,” Swiatek said about that private conversaion. “I didn’t want to do any faux pas. I wanted to behave well.”
Last year, Kate did hand the trophy to Carlos Alcaraz after his victory over Novak Djokovic in the men's final, when she made only her second public appearance since announcing she was diagnosed with cancer.
She has been gradually returning to public duties since since announcing last fall that she had completed chemotherapy, and took part in welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron during his state visit to Britain this week.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales smiles as she sits in the Royal Box on Centre Court ahead of the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)
Kate, Princess of Wales participates in the presentation ceremony for the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's Kate, the Princess of Wales, arrives to hand over the trophy to Iga Swiatek of Poland after winning the women's singles final match against Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. receives her runners-up trophy from Kate, Princess of Wales, after losing to Poland's Iga Swiatek during the women's single final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales presents the Venus Rosewater Dish to Iga Swiatek, following her victory over Amanda Anisimova in the Ladies' Singles Final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Ben Whitley/PA via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales, with AELTC chair Debbie Jevans, right, arrives to attend the women's singles final between Poland's Iga Swiątek and Amanda Anisimova of the US at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/Pool via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales arrives to attend the women's singles final between Poland's Iga Swiątek and Amanda Anisimova of the US at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/Pool via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales arrives to attend the women's singles final between Poland's Iga Swiątek and Amanda Anisimova of the US at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/Pool via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales waves as she arrives with Deborah Jevans of the All England Club to attend the women's singles final between Poland's Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova of the US at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales arrives to attend the women's singles final between Poland's Iga Swiątek and Amanda Anisimova of the US at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Jordan Pettitt/Pool via AP)
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales awaits the arrival of France's President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron in Windsor, England, Tuesday July 8, 2025, on the first day of a three-day state visit to Britain. (Chris Jackson/Pool via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the U.S. ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.
The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honor that he has coveted. Even if it the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who has long been the face of resistance in Venezuela. He has signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro’s second in command.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize," Machado told reporters after leaving the White House and heading to Capitol Hill. She said she had done so "as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela, giving no timetable on when elections might be held. Machado indicated that he had provided few specifics on that front during their discussion.
She did not provide more information on what was said, and the White House did not say if Trump accepted the medal or offer other details of its own.
After a closed-door meeting with Trump, Machado greeted dozens of cheering supporters waiting for her near the White House gates, stopping to hug many.
“We can count on President Trump,” she told them without elaborating, prompting some to briefly chant, “Thank you, Trump.”
Before her visit to Washington, Machado had not been seen in public since she traveled last month to Norway, where her daughter received the peace prize on her behalf. She had spent 11 months in hiding in Venezuela before she appeared in Norway after the ceremony.
The jubilant scene after her meeting with Trump stood in contrast to political realities in Venezuela. Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations, along with others in Maduro’s inner circle. In her first state of the union speech Thursday, the interim president promoted the resumption of diplomatic ties between the historic adversaries and advocated for opening the state-run oil industry to more foreign investment after Trump pledged to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales.
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” but also said the meeting didn’t mean Trump’s opinion of her changed, calling it “a realistic assessment.”
Leavitt told reporters that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
Leavitt said Machado had sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. She spent about two and a half hours at the White House.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said while the meeting was still going on, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
After leaving the White House, Machado went on to a closed-door meeting with a bipartisan group of senators.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Machado told them that “if there’s not some progress, real progress towards a transition in power, and/or elections in the next several months, we should all be worried.”
“She reminded us that Delcy Rodríguez is, in many ways, worse than Maduro,” he added.
Asked if Machado had heard any commitment from the White House on holding elections in Venezuela, Murphy said, “No, I don’t think she got any commitment from them."
Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, was exultant following the meeting, saying Machado "delivered a message that loud and clear: What President Trump did was the most important, significant event in Latin America. That getting rid of Maduro was absolutely essential.”
Machado's Washington stop coincided with U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seizing another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife less than two weeks ago at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and noted that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.” Machado had steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize, and had sought to cultivate relationships with him and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate, Machado began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush, whom Chávez considered an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown.
Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves, Michelle L. Price and Matthew Lee in Washington, and Megan Janetsky in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is welcomed at the Capitol before a meeting with senators, from left, Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., as the Nobel Peace Prize recipient visits American leaders two weeks after President Donald Trump toppled Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in a stunning military raid, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, center, leaves the Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, center, is welcomed by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., left, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., far left, and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., right, as the Nobel Peace Prize recipient visits American leaders at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
