Mike Tindall has opened up about his true feelings of what joining the royal family was 'really like' for him. The ex-England rugby star, who married Zara Tindall, Princess Anne's daughter and King Charles' niece, in 2011, shared that becoming part of the monarchy was quite straightforward for him. The couple, parents to three children, are regulars at royal gatherings, including Christmas at Sandringham and last year's Coronation.
Since hanging up his rugby boots, Mike has been on ITV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and co-hosts The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast with James Haskell and Alex Payne. With a book adaptation of their podcast set to hit the shelves soon, excerpts in The Telegraph reveal Mike's thoughts on his Royal integration.
He says: "Believe it or not, marrying into the Royal family was pretty easy for me. They were always nice to me, and I was always nice to them. Simple really," reports the Mirror.
His laid-back account is a stark contrast to Meghan Markle's experience. The Duchess of Sussex has openly discussed the difficulties she faced after her marriage to Prince Harry, particularly in the couple's explosive Netflix series, where she implied receiving a less than warm welcome from some royals, including the Prince and Princess of Wales.
However, it seems that Mike shares an especially close and playful relationship with the younger royals, particularly the children of Prince William and Kate Middleton. During the Queens Platinum Jubilee celebrations years prior, cheeky scenes were captured showing Mike giving a playful warning to a spirited Prince Louis, letting the little prince know he was watching him.
Mike opened up during a chat with The Telegraph about his warm connection with 11 year old Prince George, noting similarities between George and his father William's love for football. He shared, "George loves his football. I've played numerous times in the garden with him. He's passionate about Aston Villa, too. Wherever he is, he'll sit down and watch that game."
In another heartfelt reveal from Zara's discussion with Australian Women's Weekly, the bond their children have with the Wales youngsters was brought to light as well. It appears that playdates between their broods get quite competitive.
Zara touched upon this dynamic by saying, "Our kids play with their kids in this competition we have," and Mike further emphasized the positive aspects of such rivalry, commenting: "Competition done the right way is so healthy, I think. It drives people to get better; for sports people it drives you to train, it drives you to push as hard as you can. You need that."
Zara, an Olympic silver medallist, expressed a playful competitive streak within the family by saying, "I think our families are fairly competitive."
Mike and Zara also shared some candid insights about their kids' spirited nature during game time. Mike revealed, "Mia doesn't like losing at the moment," speaking of his eldest daughter, whilst noting of their younger one, "[And] now Lena is getting old enough to start pushing Mia because there's a bit of a gap."
Considering their close ages, it's hardly shocking that the Tindall offspring share a special connection with the young royals - Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Mia Tindall holds her place just six months shy of cousin Prince Georges age, while Lena is practically in step with Prince Louis, having arrived in the world a mere couple of months in his wake.
Mike Tindall previously opened up to the Telegraph about the cousins camaraderie, detailing, "Lena and obviously Louis are similar ages and Mia's sort of in between Charlotte and George, and then you've got Peter's [Phillips] children Savannah and Isla who are just a little bit older."
He also spoke about the older cousin, James, Viscount Severn, adding, "James [Prince Edward and Sophie's son] is, well, not exactly the ring leader, but he's the oldest. So, yeah, it's going to be a good little group."
