The seven-time singles champion, will make a sensational appearance at the 2022 Championships in her first competitive singles match in a year.
The American withdrew from the 2021 tournament after tearing her hamstring on Centre Court after six completed games of the first set against Belarussian Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Williams has fallen to 1,208 in the WTA world rankings due to her inactivity but there was never any doubt someone of her stature would be missed off the initial wildcard list.
All England Club chiefs had to change their plans and bring forward the announcement by a day after an unexpected social media message by Williams to her 14.9million followers on Instagram.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion posted a photo of her white Nike trainers on grass and captioned it with: “SW (Serena Williams) and SW19. It’s a date. See you there. Let’s go.”
Raducanu, 19, will be seeded in the first round and if the draw is unkind, she could play the global superstar on the hallowed green turf.
As part of her warm-up plans, Williams will appear at the Eastbourne International next week but in doubles action alongside Tunisian world No.4 Ons Jabeur.
Tim Henman, who is on the committee board at Wimbledon, said: “It is a good selection on the women’s side.
“Serena requested one actually a couple of weeks ago and she is going to play down at Eastbourne.