Although Zara Tindall was raised by Princess Anne, the queen's only daughter, you'd have
a hard time knowing it — since she lives a life as close to normal as a royal can get.
This is the truth about Queen Elizabeth and Philip's eldest granddaughter.
On May 15th, 1981, Princess Anne and her husband, Captain Mark Phillips, welcomed their second
child at St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington. The couple decided to name her Zara Anne Elizabeth
Phillips. Although it's easy to pinpoint the inspiration for the middle names — Anne
after the baby's mother, Princess Anne, and Elizabeth after the baby's grandmother Queen
Elizabeth — the first name is quite unusual for a royal. But it was actually the baby's
uncle, Prince Charles, who suggested it to his sister. Princess Anne later explained:
"The baby made a rather sudden and positive arrival, and my brother thought Zara (a Greek
name meaning 'bright as the dawn') was an appropriate name."
This relatively unconventional name has greatly increased in popularity since the early '80s,
when it ranked at number 3,197th in popularity. In early 2021, Zara was ranked the 123rd most
popular baby girl name.
Although she's very much a member of the royal family, Zara Tindall is neither a princess
nor a senior royal. This is because Princess Anne declined her mother's proposal to bestow
Tindall with the royal title of princess. When The Times asked Tindall if she thought
her life would have been different with a title, she responded that it probably would
have been, but there was no way to be sure. She said:
"I can't really answer that. I'm very lucky that both my parents decided to not use the
title and we grew up and did all the things that gave us the opportunity to do."
"We did everything what everyone else did, you know, went to school —"
"You just went to the village school."
"Initially, yeah."
While many of us as children may have dreamed of what life would be like as a princess,
it may be hard to imagine someone actually feeling "lucky" not to be one. It's more than
likely, though, that Princess Anne knew the costs and benefits of life as a princess all
too well — and simply determined she didn't want her daughter to live that life.
In 1998, Zara Tindall — then going by her maiden name of Zara Phillips — showed up
to Prince Charles' 50th birthday party with her tongue pierced. That may not seem like
a big deal now, but for the queen's granddaughter to rock a body piercing even in the late '90s
was kind of scandalous. At the time, Tindall was but 17 years old and on summer break from
boarding school.
Although her tongue stud has since been removed, Tindall's father, Captain Mark Phillips, once
told The Times that his daughter is still very much the wild child. Tindall, who was
also present at the interview, interjected, saying:
"I don't know if I was that wild. I guess it looked like that because of my family background.
I'm sure that is what it's probably compared to."
Since Tindall has always been involved in the world of sports, her father attributes
her wildness to what he calls the "sporting life." But that doesn't mean she's a party
animal. When asked by The Times' reporter whether she gets "slaughtered" — a Britishism
for getting overly-drunk — Tindall objected. Her father explained the impact drunkenness
would have on his daughter's sporting career, adding:
"Getting slaughtered is not an option, but it doesn't mean to say you can't go and have
a beer or two."
All things in moderation, right?
When Princess Anne was a teenager, she started getting interested in horseback riding. By
1971, when she was in her 20s, she had already won a number of eventing titles and was even
named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
A few years after marrying Captain Mark Phillips, she went on to compete at the Olympic level
in Montreal. Phillips, too, has an interest in horses, which is how the couple first met.
In 1972, he won gold at the summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.
That same love of horses may very well be in Tindall's blood. Tindall started riding
horses pretty much as soon as she was old enough to sit on a saddle, and some 35 years
after her mother was selected as BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Tindall went on to
earn the title as well.
Like her parents, Tindall also went on to participate in the Olympic Games — at London
in 2012 — and won a silver medal; making her the first royal to win an Olympic medal.
"Was it very important that you beat your mother's record?"
"No, but it's very important that I beat my father's."
Shortly after her wedding in July 2011, Zara Phillips gave up her maiden name and took
the name of her husband, the captain of England's rugby team, Mike Tindall. The two were married
in a summer ceremony in Scotland at a fairly small church, Canongate Kirk. The bride was
dressed in a duchess satin and ivory silk gown by designer Stewart Parvin , who is most
notably known for also designing outfits for the queen. Tindall also donned a tiara given
to her by her mother.
A number of royals were in attendance at the wedding, including the bride's cousin Prince
William and his new wife Kate Middleton. Although Tindall told Hello! magazine that her ceremony
would "be nothing like Kate and William's," because it was much smaller and for close
family and friends only, it was still a royally pricy affair. The reception, which took place
at the Palace of Holyroodhouse , is estimated to have cost about $60,000. Add the eye-popping
reported cost of $800,000 for security at the event, and you've got yourself a heck
of an expensive wedding day.
In November 2014, Zara Tindall gave birth to her first child, Mia . But Tindall had
been given at least a kind of parental responsibility prior to this — as Prince William and Kate
Middleton chose her to be a godparent to Prince George. The young prince actually has a total
of seven godparents, all of whom come from a variety of backgrounds.
One of the appointed godparents is an interior designer who is friends with Middleton, while
another is a childhood friend of William. Then there's the prince's private secretary,
the couple's mutual pal from college, a close friend of William's late mother Princess Diana,
and the now-incumbent Duke of Westminster. Tindall, however, was the only family member
to be chosen.
Just a few short weeks after Mike and Zara Tindall announced they were expecting a second
child, tragedy struck when Zara suffered a late-term miscarriage. In an interview with
The Daily Telegraph, Mike publicly discussed the couple's loss for the first time. He simply
said:
"Obviously you're gutted."
Nevertheless, he highlighted the silver lining, which was having a 3-year-old child at home
to keep the couple occupied. Prior to the miscarriage, neither Mike nor Zara had known
anything was wrong. They showed up for their ultrasound hoping to learn the sex of the
child and instead were given the devastating news that their child had died in utero. Mike
explained:
"You walk out 20 minutes later and the whole world's been turned upside down and everything's
changed."
Fortunately, further testing ruled out any medical issues. As Mike Tindall continued:
"It was just a freak thing."
In January 2018, the media reported that Zara Tindall had become pregnant for a third time.
A spokeswoman for the couple subsequently confirmed they were, indeed, expecting baby
No. 2. Kate Middleton was also pregnant at this time, meaning Queen Elizabeth had to
prepare for welcoming two new great-grandbabies to the family. Luckily, the queen appears
to be quite the doting great-grandmother and, according to The Telegraph, told a spokesman
that she was "very pleased" to hear that Tindall was expecting.
Although many fans of the royal family were over the moon about William and Middleton's
newest arrival, Tindall's baby was certainly another welcome addition, too. Tindall gave
birth to daughter Lena in June 2018. Of course, there was considerably less hoopla over the
birth than that of Middleton's son, Prince Louis , who had been born in April of that
year. But that may well have been more of a blessing than a curse.
Have you ever wondered if Queen Elizabeth stays up late binge-watching Netflix's hit
show "The Crown"? Rumors claim she is a fan of the series, but Claire Foy, who played
the queen in the show, isn't buying it. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Foy was told
that the monarch had watched the entire first season, but voiced her own doubts, saying:
"I can't believe it, I hadn't heard anything about it, and I will believe it when I see
it is all I'll say."
Still, it appears that at least a handful of other royals do watch the critically acclaimed
series. For example, Mike Tindall got more than a little excited when a reporter from
The Daily Telegraph asked if he watches The Crown. He said:
"Addicted to The Crown. You've got to watch it, it's great."
Although he also admitted he can't say for sure just how accurate the show might be,
the Tindalls appear to love it all the same.
You might typically think of royals giving birth in luxurious, expensive hospitals, before
emerging into the daylight so that the mere mortals might catch a glimpse of the blessed
child. Spare a thought, then, for Zara Tindall, whose third child, Lucas, was born at home
on March 21nd, 2021. The little boy wasn't just delivered at home, however; Queen Elizabeth's
10th great-grandchild was actually born in the bathroom. The palace later issued a statement,
reading:
"The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are delighted with the news and look forward to meeting
their 10th Great Grandchild when circumstances allow."
Proud father Mike Tindall recalled the birth during an episode of his "The Good, The Bad
& The Rugby" podcast, saying:
"A little baby boy arrived at my house!"
"You're kidding!"
"Well done mate, congrats."
The situation sounded pretty dramatic, too, with the former athlete revealing that, luckily,
his wife's friend was on hand to recognize that they wouldn't make it to the hospital
on time. After that:
"So yeah, it was run into the gym, get a mat, get into the bathroom, get a mat on the floor,
towels down, 'brace-brace-brace.'"
The midwife hurried over, everybody got into position, and, thankfully, everything went
pretty smoothly after that.
They might technically be royals, but the Tindalls try to live a life as close to normal
as they possibly can. Zara Tindall and husband Mike, along with their three children, reside
in the majestic Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire , which was part of a wedding gift from Queen
Elizabeth to Princess Anne. The Tindalls occupy a cottage just a short walk away, with Zara's
older brother, Peter Phillips, also taking up residence on the grounds with his own family.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, the Tindalls were spotted taking long walks in the lush
surroundings of Gatcombe Park.
Likewise, People magazine once reported that a young Prince William was fond of the so-called
"controlled chaos" of Gatcombe Park, because it was so different to more formal royal residences.
Indeed, the cozy farmhouse is very much suited to Zara and Mike, who'd rather keep their
children out of the spotlight — and are often seen doing the school run and shopping
at local supermarkets.
Naming their two daughters came relatively easily to Zara and Mike Tindall, but, when
their little boy came along, the couple were stumped. The former rugby star admitted on
his podcast that they were struggling to find the right name for their son. He even previously
joked, in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic:
"We're not sure what to do, Covi or Covina — I don't know where to go with names."
Eventually, they settled on Lucas, meaning "light-giving." And although this is a lovely
name in itself, the child's middle name was even more meaningful to the couple. Both Zara
and Princess Eugenie opted to pay tribute to their dearly departed grandfather, Prince
Philip, following his death in April 2021 at the age of 99, by giving their firstborn
sons his name. Zara named her boy Lucas Philip Tindall, while Eugenie called hers August
Philip Hawke. Both women reportedly had a special bond with the Duke of Edinburgh, so
it makes complete sense they would honor him in the names of their children.
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