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David Beckham Sits in Royal Box at Wimbledon a Day after Princess Kate Made an Appearance

Former British football player David Beckham and his mother Sandra Beckham sit in the royal box in Center Court during the women's singles tennis match between Russia's Daria Kasatkina and Britain's Jodie Burrage on the third day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 5, 2023. (AFP)
Former British football player David Beckham and his mother Sandra Beckham sit in the royal box in Center Court during the women's singles tennis match between Russia's Daria Kasatkina and Britain's Jodie Burrage on the third day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 5, 2023. (AFP)
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David Beckham Sits in Royal Box at Wimbledon a Day after Princess Kate Made an Appearance

Former British football player David Beckham and his mother Sandra Beckham sit in the royal box in Center Court during the women's singles tennis match between Russia's Daria Kasatkina and Britain's Jodie Burrage on the third day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 5, 2023. (AFP)
Former British football player David Beckham and his mother Sandra Beckham sit in the royal box in Center Court during the women's singles tennis match between Russia's Daria Kasatkina and Britain's Jodie Burrage on the third day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 5, 2023. (AFP)

Football royalty made its way into the Royal Box at Wimbledon on Wednesday when David Beckham took his place on Centre Court.

Beckham, one of the most famous players in football history for both his ability on the field and his persona off it, attended Day 3 of the grass-court tournament a day after Kate, the Princess of Wales, was in the stands.

Beckham, sitting with his mother, has been a regular over the years at the All England Club.

On the soccer field, Beckham became a superstar while playing for Manchester United and helping the team win the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup in 1999. That feat was matched by rival Manchester City this season.

Beckham also played for England's national soccer team, but World Cup success eluded him despite some deep runs in the tournament.

Beckham is married to the former Victoria Adams, also known as Posh Spice of the British pop group the Spice Girls.

British adventurer Bear Grylls was also in the Royal Box on Wednesday.

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Finland Zoo to Return Giant Pandas to China because they're Too Expensive to Keep

FILE - Female panda Jin Bao Bao, named Lumi in Finnish, plays in the snow on the opening day of the Snowpanda Resort in Ahtari Zoo, in Ahtari, Finland, Saturday Feb. 17, 2018. (Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP), File)
FILE - Female panda Jin Bao Bao, named Lumi in Finnish, plays in the snow on the opening day of the Snowpanda Resort in Ahtari Zoo, in Ahtari, Finland, Saturday Feb. 17, 2018. (Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP), File)
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Finland Zoo to Return Giant Pandas to China because they're Too Expensive to Keep

FILE - Female panda Jin Bao Bao, named Lumi in Finnish, plays in the snow on the opening day of the Snowpanda Resort in Ahtari Zoo, in Ahtari, Finland, Saturday Feb. 17, 2018. (Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP), File)
FILE - Female panda Jin Bao Bao, named Lumi in Finnish, plays in the snow on the opening day of the Snowpanda Resort in Ahtari Zoo, in Ahtari, Finland, Saturday Feb. 17, 2018. (Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP), File)

A zoo in Finland has agreed with Chinese authorities to return two loaned giant pandas to China more than eight years ahead of schedule because they have become too expensive for the facility to maintain amid declining visitors.
The private Ähtäri Zoo in central Finland some 330 kilometers north of Helsinki said Wednesday on its Facebook page that the female panda Lumi, Finnish for “snow,” and the male panda Pyry, meaning “snowfall,” will return “prematurely” to China later this year, The Associated Press reported.
The panda pair was China’s gift to mark the Nordic nation’s 100 years of independence in 2017, and they were supposed to be on loan until 2033.
But since then the zoo has experienced a number of challenges, including a decline in visitors due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as an increase in inflation and interest rates, the facility said in a statement.
The panda deal between Helsinki and Beijing, a 15-year loan agreement, had been finalized in April 2017 when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Finland for talks with Finland's then-President Sauli Niinistö. The pandas arrived in Finland in January 2018.
The Ähtäri Zoo, which specializes in typical northern European animals such as bears, lynxes and wolverines, built a special panda annex at a cost of some 8 million euros ($9 million) in hopes of luring more tourists to the remote nature reserve.
The upkeep of Lumi and Pyry, including a preservation fee to China, cost the zoo some 1.5 million euros annually. The bamboo that giant pandas eat was flown in from the Netherlands.
The Chinese Embassy in Helsinki noted to Finnish media that Beijing had tried to help Ähtäri to solve its financial difficulties by, among things, urging Chinese companies operating in Finland to make donations to the zoo and supporting its debt arrangements.
However, declining visitor numbers combined with drastic changes in the economic environment proved too high a burden for the smallish Finnish zoo. The panda pair will enter into a monthlong quarantine in late October before being shipped to China.
Finland, a country of 5.6 million, was among the first Western nations to establish political ties with China, doing so in 1950. China has presented giant pandas to countries as a sign of goodwill and closer political ties, and Finland was the first Nordic nation to receive them.