Mike Tindall says in a book that it was “easy, really simple” for him to join the British royal family 13 years ago, when he married Zara Tindall, the niece of Charles III. That sweet landing occurred on good terms, he says, because “he has always been kind to them,” and vice versa.
Without Meghan Markle being mentioned in the equation, many make the inevitable comparison between this former British rugby star and the former American actress, who, unlike Tindall, did not have a smooth transition to royal life and in her first years of marriage. Tense relations with the family reigned.
Mike and Zara Tindall during the America’s Cup sailing last week in Barcelona.
Princess Anne’s son-in-law has had a week of celebrations. Last weekend he traveled to Barcelona with his wife to celebrate his 46th birthday at the America’s Cup sailing and cheer on INEOS Britannia. “Barcelona was great,” he said online. And last Wednesday he published his first book, which reviews the four years of the podcast’s life The good, the bad & the rugbyco-written with communicator Alex Payne and former rugby star James Haskell, the three presenters of the program.
In the podcast the three friends talk mainly about sports, but, due to Tindall’s close relationship with the British royal family, some of its members have been on the program and, therefore, the new book also delves into some intimate details of the Windsor. For example, about his grandmother-in-law, Elizabeth II, he says that “her life was not like an episode of Downton Abbey, with meals at long tables and everyone dressed elegantly every night.”
Mike, before replacing his nose, with Ana from England, watching Zara compete in horse riding together in 2010.
Tindall also has the confidence to reveal that he refers to the heir to the English throne, Prince William, as “one pint Willy”, because “he is not the best drinker”, unlike what was said about his grandmother, Elizabeth II, and the last queen mother.
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Other anecdotes that Tindall reveals more in line with the podcast about the customs of the Princes of Wales are that Princess Catherine “loves running”, although she also enjoys climbing, yoga and tennis. Also that Prince George started diving when he was only 11 years old, that he also loves football and that he is a fan of the Aston Villa team, like his father. He adds that, in general, the Welsh “are a family that loves sports.”
Prince William hugging his cousin’s husband during a polo tournament.
In the British press they claim that Guillermo and Mike live what is now called a bromance, since we have been seeing them play jokes at official events for years and they also cannot resist giving each other a hug when they see each other in public. Speaking to The Times earlier this year, a source close to the Windsors said that Mike and Zara are “the glue that holds this generation of the British royal family together, no matter how serious the occasion.”
All of this is helped by the fact that both couples and their children are similar ages. Zara (43) and Mike (46) had Mia (10), Lena (6) and Lucas (3), and Princes William (42) and Catherine (42) of Wales were just a little quicker to have to princes George (11), Charlotte (9) and Luis (6). Both have been with their respective wives for almost 20 years and ended up marrying just two months apart, William and Kate, at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on April 29, 2011 and, just two months later, Mike and Zara made the same on July 30 of the same year in Canongate church, a modest 17th century parish in Edinburgh.
