![\"Wade,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Wade_Rinaldi_WTA50.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNEW YORK — WTA legend Virginia Wade was presented with the badge of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) on June 9, in recognition of services rendered to British tennis and charity.<\/p>\n
Wade was named a recipient of a CBE in His Majesty The King\u2019s Birthday Honours 2025. This week\u2019s ceremony saw Oliver Christian MVO, His Majesty\u2019s Consul General to New York and Trade Commissioner for North America, formally present the three-time Grand Slam singles champion with the badge of the Order, on behalf of King Charles III.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was honoured to present Virginia with the CBE insignia and to celebrate her awe-inspiring career not only as a tennis player, but as a dedicated champion of tennis-related charities on both sides of the Atlantic,\u201d said Christian, who hosted the investiture at his official Manhattan residence.<\/p>\n
During her stellar playing career, Bournemouth-born Wade ranked as high as World No. 2 and won 55 singles titles on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, including the US Open in 1968, the Australian Open in 1972 and Wimbledon in 1977. She also won four Grand Slam doubles titles and remains the only British woman to capture titles at all four majors.<\/p>\n
Currently, she serves as patron of Give It Your Max (a UK-based children\u2019s tennis charity), Vice President of the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust, and is a longtime supporter of the City Parks Foundation in New York City.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am truly delighted to receive this prestigious honour, symbolizing the love and affection I have for my country,\u201d Wade said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy tennis career was highlighted annually by playing in team events representing Great Britain for 21 years. Not only is this a reward for me, but I hope it might serve to inspire other British female athletes in their quests for success.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Virginia Wade (left) and Kathy Rinaldi attend the WTA 50th Anniversary Gala at The Ziegfeld Ballroom on Aug. 25, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images)\n <\/p>\n
Wade was previously honored by Queen Elizabeth II with an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) and an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire). The MBE is a British order of chivalry established in 1917 to recognize outstanding civilian and military service.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am delighted to congratulate Virginia on receiving this award — and during Wimbledon, where she secured her iconic victory in 1977,\u201d said Valerie Camillo, Chair of the WTA.<\/p>\n
\u201cVirginia is one of the greatest British players of all-time and, as a founding member of the WTA, among the group of women who was in the room when it all began.\u201d<\/p>\n
Generations of players, including Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Francoise D\u00fcrr, Judy Dalton, Kathy Rinaldi, Katrina Adams and Annabel Croft sent congratulatory videos that were played at the New York event.<\/p>\n
Annabel Croft congratulates Virginia Wade on high British honor<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations on your CBE, Virginia \u2013 it is so well deserved,\u201d said fellow Briton Croft.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can remember watching you as an 11-year-old, beating Chris Evert out on Centre Court. You inspired me to take up the sport and want to play at Wimbledon. You were also the most amazing captain at what was then called Fed Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1983, Wade was winding down her playing career when she faced a 14-year-old Rinaldi in the Wightman Cup, a longstanding annual team competition between Great Britain and the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve been such a support to me, and others, and such a great ambassador for our sport as well,\u201d said Rinaldi in her message. \u201cI just want you to know, you\u2019ve always been Queen Virginia to me — and always will be!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK — WTA legend Virginia Wade was presented with the badge of Commander of the Most Excellent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593,5452],"class_list":["post-792953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}