There’s been big change this year at Wimbledon. The line judges in their Ralph Lauren outfits have been retired and replaced with Hawk-Eye technology – ending 147 years of tradition at a stroke. But that’s not what we’re talking about.

Wimbledon fortnight has leapfrogged the other social events in the summer calendar and, before we’ve even got to the semi-finals, Centre Court ranks as the new No1 place to see and be seen, with the royal box functioning a bit like the roped-off VIP area at a Hollywood party.

The crowd – and those tuning in on TV – have witnessed a stream of celebrities like nothing the All England Tennis Association has ever seen before.

This will go down as the year when the famous and powerful turned Wimbledon fortnight into a delightfully rich and varied red carpet and the royal box, at the south end of Centre Court, into a 74-seat pen of all the people on our radar (with one or two notable exceptions who can’t get their security arrangements paid for).

Traditionally, it hosts a carefully curated mix of royalty, establishment, former champions, sporting heroes, diplomats, politicians, media scions, film stars and rock legends.

In recent years you can pretty much guarantee a sighting of Carole and Michael Middleton (present on Tuesday), Sir David Beckham (on the opening Monday) and Sienna Miller (also this Tuesday). Sometimes you’ll get a major league A-list Hollywood celebrity, if they’re in town, like Tom Cruise (not too late to write him off) or Brad Pitt, who turned up last year presumably on the back of filming F1: The Movie, largely shot at Silverstone.

Sienna Miller steps into the Royal Box at Wimbledon with Katherine Jenkins

Sir Gareth Southgate and Sir David Beckham in front of cricketer Stuart Broad, Mollie King, Hannah Bagshawe and Eddie Redmayne

Who gets a seat in the inner circle is in the hands of the chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Deborah Jevans, and it’s strictly invitation only. Those who qualify are, according to Robert McNicol, historian for the All England Club, ‘individuals of distinction and others who in various ways contribute to the betterment of our lives and society’.

Whatever the criteria this year more than ever it’s clear that anyone who is anyone wanted to be at Centre Court, no matter how early on in the championship.

Way back on day three, the 22-year-old Olivia Rodrigo, fresh from her headline appearance at Glastonbury, was there in the box with her British boyfriend Louis Partridge; and Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne and his wife Hannah Bagshawe were happy to kick off proceedings on the opening Monday.

Not everyone, Spider-Man included, gets the call up. In spite of looking very much like Hollywood royalty, Andrew Garfield and the actress Monica Barbaro were in the stalls this year. The pecking order within the box itself depends on the status of the individual and their relationship to the game.

Not surprisingly, royalty gets the front row, whether that’s Queen Camilla yesterday or the Prince and Princess of Wales (expected at the weekend). Likewise, tennis legends go in the first row, to be in view of the players.

Comedian Michael McIntyre qualified for the second row on day eight, in front of Carole and Michael, the parents of the future queen, one row behind tennis royalty Roger Federer, and so on.

US singer Olivia Rodrigo, her boyfriend Louis Partridge and actor Dominic Cooper last week

Camilla enjoys yesterday’s action on Centre Court in front of Hugh Grant

Clearly, deciding who goes where on which day is a headache, on a par with the political minefield that is Anna Wintour’s Met Gala seating plan. (The ructions over who goes where at this annual fashion event are legendary). Hugh Grant was seated behind the Queen at yesterday’s quarter final – perhaps because his Paddington connections have given him extra royal privileges.

But what’s so interesting about the royal box guests this year is that the cast list rivals the Met Ball’s and, in many ways, is more interesting and a lot more fun.

Where else would you find Jeremy Hunt rubbing shoulders with Jodie Foster? Or Sarah Ferguson and Jason Isaacs (of the prosthetic you-know-what in White Lotus) chatting away in the sun?

Why everyone wants to be here now is a question that’s hard to answer, but those in the know say Royal Ascot has been tarnished by drunk and disorderly behaviour; Henley Regatta is an anachronism; Chelsea Flower Show is for an older crowd.

Wimbledon is just very hot… and the heatwave has helped too. And of course it’s a chance to look old-school smart.

The dress code is jacket and tie for men and for women ‘afternoon dress’ or ‘elegant trouser suit’, but just as the line up of this year’s royal box guests has been more eclectic and glamorous than ever, the outfits have been more varied than in previous years. Traditionally, Centre Court has called for an elegant dress, floral print, polka dot or – for the Princess of Wales All England purple – but this year the mood has been anything goes, so long as it ticks the dressing up box.

Cate Blanchett wore a Giorgio Armani trouser suit with nothing underneath. Sienna Miller’s Alessandra Rich dress was thigh-high and cute; Katherine Jenkins’s was floor-sweeping pink, puff-sleeved and full-skirted, fit for an opera.

All in all there’s been so much to see in the royal box – and there are still three days to go.