She’s still living in the fast lane… even after losing her license.
From horseback to the Outback, this royal granddaughter is living life on her own terms.
Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips was born to her parents Princess Anne and Mark Phillips on
May 15, 1981.
Anne gave birth to Zara at St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington in a somewhat hasty fashion.
As she put it at the time,
"The baby made a rather sudden and positive arrival."
"Captain Phillips leant forward and gave his daughter a rather bemused smile."
Zara was christened about two months later at Windsor Castle.
As she grew up, she wasn't surrounded by all the typical royal amenities like crowns and castles.
Instead, her upbringing was as normal as her parents could afford it to be.
This included Princess Anne denying her mother Queen Elizabeth's offer to bestow titles on
Zara and Zara's older brother Peter, as she wanted them to grow up without the scrutiny
that a royal title can bring.
Zara's personal life no doubt took a turn when her mother and father separated, a very
unheard-of occurrence within the royal family at the time.
She was only eight when they split, and just 10 when the divorce was finalized.
When it came time for the young Zara Tindall to get educated, truly the only option was
boarding school.
So she and her older Peter both became students at the same boarding school that their uncle
Charles once attended, although Zara had a much different experience than the direct
heir to the throne.
As she recalled in 2018,
"I loved school, I loved sport and being with my mates all the time.
I don't know how much work I did.
You do get homesick, but I had so much fun, and Pete was very protective.
All his friends were too.
They kept me out of trouble."
After boarding school, Tindall's college days were similar to that of her extended family,
though she did seem to have a bit more unbridled fun.
After finishing her A-levels, she took a gap year and set off for New Zealand and Australia
for three months.
Afterwards, she returned to the United Kingdom and took a class in equestrian massage.
A year later, she was accepted to Exeter University, where she studied physiotherapy.
It was at this time in her life that Tindall began to excel in her equestrian career, including
landing a sponsorship in 2003.
This covered the expenses of her riding career and competitions, thereby putting her on the
competitive horse industry radar.
Two years later, she placed second at the four-star Burghley Horse Trial event and graduated
from university.
After scoring sponsorship, Zara Tindall really started making a name for herself in the equestrian
community and proved that she had what it took to compete in the big leagues.
By 2005, her standout performance at the FEI European Eventing Championship solidified
her place among the best, as she snagged gold riding her faithful horse, Toytown.
On top of that, Great Britain took home the team gold, its sixth back-to-back win.
Not only was the win on the line, but so was Tindall's impressive family lineage, as her
mother had also had an inspiring equestrian career.
As Tindall said at the time,
"All of this was a massive dream.
It was such a privilege and honor to be on such a wonderful team.
Mum gave me a big hug and told me she was proud of me."
"It's great that they can come and support you."
In 1971, a then 21-year-old Princess Anne received the BBC's Sports Personality of the
Year award.
And 35 years later, her daughter won the very same award.
That's right, Zara Tindall was named BBC's 2006 Sports Personality of the Year, thereby
bringing an incredibly lovely moment full circle.
The winner was chosen by the public, thus making it clear how much Tindall had won over
the British people.
As she admitted while receiving the award,
"I wasn't expecting it at all.
It's amazing to be here with all these amazing sports people.
I have sat there in awe of everyone.
To win is amazing.
It's fantastic for the sport."
And regarding her mother's influence, Tindall revealed,
"She hasn't put any pressure on me.
She keeps you relaxed and says, 'Go out there and do what you can.'"
Ahead of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Tindall was on the long list of options for
Great Britain's equestrian team, but she was out of the running when her horse Toytown
suffered a leg injury.
But things were looking up as the following years were incredibly successful for Tindall,
thus putting her back squarely in the running for the 2008 Olympic team.
In the lead-up to the competition, everything seemed to be going well, but then in the final
weeks before the event, Toytown was sidelined with yet another injury sustained during training.
"It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game, right?"
"We, we pretend, we put it out there like that."
But that wasn't the end of Tindall's Olympic journey!
By the time 2012 rolled around, the Games were occurring much closer to home, as they
were held in London that year.
This time around, Tindall indeed made it on the roster and took the silver medal as part
of the team competition.
Making a surreal moment even more memorable, Princess Anne was there to present her daughter
with her medal!
There's nothing quite like a royal romance, but Zara Tindall and her husband Mike Tindall
have enjoyed theirs largely outside of the spotlight.
Meeting in 2003 at a pub, they hit it off while they were both in Australia.
They then reconnected back in England and made things official the following year.
As time passed, they noticed other couples around them tying the knot, and Mike knew
that it was time to get down on one knee himself.
As he told the Daily Mail in 2011,
"I had been thinking about it for ages, waiting to ask, but then my brother got engaged, and
so did a certain Duke of Cambridge.
I thought I'd better get on with it."
And so, while Zara was watching TV at home, Mike paced back and forth upstairs, getting
up the nerve to pop the question, and hopefully pulling it off by surprise.
As he explained,
"It was all about shock value — I wanted to catch her when it was quiet, and she wasn't
expecting anything."
The engagement was announced in December 2010, and they married the following year in a 400-guest
wedding at the Canongate Kirk on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.
In 2012, Mike Tindall dropped a hint that he and Zara might be welcoming a child soon,
as he remarked at the Rugby for Heroes charity event,
"Obviously we're going to have a family.
But it's about timing.
I want to play [rugby] for another two years, so it's just where we find the balance in that.
I wouldn't say we'll wait; we'll try and find a window."
Clearly, they found a window, because in 2013, Zara happily announced that they were expecting
their first child together.
And on January 23, 2014, they welcomed their little girl, as baby Mia Grace became Queen
Elizabeth's fourth great-grandchild and Princess Anne's third grandchild.
Mike announced her name choice to the world on Twitter, calling the experience of transforming
into a dad "definitely the best day of my life."
At the time of her birth, little Mia was 16th in line to the throne.
And speaking of 16, the odds for her name to be "Mia" were reportedly 16 to 1.
As Rupert Adams, spokesman for the bookmaker William Hill, told The Guardian,
"It looks like a few people managed to get Mia correct and we have now lost for the second
time running."
Going through pregnancy and becoming a mother is a life-altering series of events.
It certainly shouldn't be underestimated just how impactful that period can be.
For Zara Tindall, that time in her life wasn't just about becoming a new mom, as she was
also determined to get back into the saddle as soon as she could.
She was reportedly riding horseback just five weeks after giving birth to her daughter,
and she had her sights set on the next competition.
As she admitted to CNN,
"It was harder than I thought it was going to be.
I had a lot of friends who said, 'Don't come back too quickly.'
I sat on a horse about five weeks after [giving birth]."
When little Mia was only eight months old, her mom was back on the competition circuit
and finishing in 11th place at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
She was also integral in helping team Great Britain make it to their second-place finish
and Olympic qualifying spot.
As she revealed,
"I always wanted to get back for the Worlds at the right time.
I've given myself enough time to get back where I left off."
"It's a very exciting competition to be involved in, and to be able to ride for country, always it is."
There's something to be said about royals and driving.
Just think of the hilarious photos of Queen Elizabeth peering over the wheel of her Range Rover.
But as for her granddaughter Zara Tindall, she had an experience that was a little more
disruptive than just being too small for her vehicle.
In January 2020, Tindall was pulled over on a highway in Gloucestershire for speeding.
And this wasn't just a simple five miles over the limit, as she was reportedly going 91
miles per hour.
And as it turned out, she already had nine points on her license working against her.
Despite her royal connections, Tindall didn't try to sweet talk her way out of the punishment.
She admitted to police that she had indeed been speeding in her Land Rover, which added
an additional three points on her license, bumping the total to 12.
That many points typically result in license suspension.
Prosecutor Farley Turner stated at the time of the incident,
"Because Mrs. Tindall already has nine points on her license, she was unable to accept a
fixed penalty for this offense."
The ultimate result was that Tindall had her license suspended for six months, and was
fined 666 pounds, as well as an additional 151 pounds as a "victim surcharge."
Altogether, that would've been the equivalent of nearly 1000 American dollars.