From the rugby subject to the palace! Former professional athlete Mike Tindall turned a member of the royal household after his marriage ceremony to Zara Tindall (née Phillips).
Zara is the one daughter of Princess Anne and her ex-husband, Captain Mark Phillips. The twosome — who divorced in 1992 — additionally share son Peter Phillips. Zara and her brother are the 2 eldest grandchildren of the late Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip, who died in 2022 and 2021, respectively.
When Mike met Zara at a pub in Australia in 2003, he was immediately smitten along with her no matter her royal standing.
“I’m by no means a ahead planner. I don’t assume that far forward,” the previous rugby participant advised the Every day Mail in June 2011 of not realizing who his in-laws can be when he started relationship his now-wife. “I feel [my mom] was nonetheless just a little bit shocked, however [both of my parents] have been each tremendous with it.”
He added on the time: “My grandma was a bit extra nervous as a result of for her era the royal household is huge. She was anxious whether or not it was the fitting factor for me.”
Mike finally proposed to Zara in December 2010, they usually wed one yr later at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. The couple have since welcomed three youngsters: Mia, Lena and Lucas.
Amid their royal romance, Mike has gotten a front-row seat to a number of historic occasions alongside Zara and their youngsters. The pair have regularly stepped out with the royals for annual Christmas and Easter companies, in addition to the respective funerals for the late queen and Philip. Mike and the Olympian additionally attended a number of celebratory occasions for Zara’s uncle King Charles III’s coronation in Could 2023.
The Tindalls have been seated subsequent to Peter within the fourth row through the Westminster Abbey service.
“You’re within the hottest spot, however it was all occurring simply across the nook of wall you can’t see,” Mike quipped throughout an episode of his “The Good, the Unhealthy & the Rugby” podcast later that month. “It was unbelievable to be sat the place we have been. Fairly irritating that you simply couldn’t see across the nook, however you had the TV there.”
He and Zara have been instantly behind her cousins Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
“It’s a kind of moments,” Mike added on his podcast. “I feel one of the best little bit of the day was the six and half hours of navy footmen that have been within the Buckingham Palace yard and they did three cheers for the King — it was like whoa, goose pimples.”
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Scroll beneath to learn Mike’s most candid quotes about becoming a member of the royal household:
