Zara’s dramatic bathroom delivery
The famously ‘normal’ royals’ new son arrived in a most unexpected way
THERE’S nothing like a new baby to put a smile on people’s faces – and heaven knows the royal family could do with a ray of sunshine these days. Ever since that Oprah Winfrey interview the palace has been trying to put out fires left, right and centre. So when the queen’s latest great- grandchild made his rather hasty appearance, there was delight all around – especially as the tot’s parents honoured the ailing Duke of Edinburgh by naming their son after him.
Lucas Philip Tindall is 22nd in line to the British throne, the first son born to Zara and Mike Tindall and baby brother to big sisters Mia (6) and Lena (2).
And where was the littlest member of the Firm born? On a gym mat on a bathroom floor, that’s where – proof once again that babies have no intention of following anyone’s rules.
In the run-up to the birth there was much speculation about where Zara (39) would give birth. Princess Anne’s only daughter is a country girl, more at home mucking about with horses and dogs than swanking it up in trendy London.
Not for her the larney Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital (à la Kate Middleton) or the super-posh Portland Hospital (à la Princess Eugenie and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex).
Her hospital of choice was the Shroud Maternity Unit at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, a 15-minute drive from the family home.
The free state hospital is where Zara delivered her daughters so it was the obvious choice – but in the end it simply wouldn’t do for young Master Tindall.
Mike (42) had no qualms sharing all the details of the lightning-fast birth on his podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby – and given the levels he went to, you have to hope he cleared it with his wife first.
ZARA started to have contractions the night before, so she and Mike organised childcare for Mia and Lena – but little Lucas arrived so quickly they didn’t have time to make it to hospital.
“So yeah, it was running to the [home] gym, get a mat, get into the bathroom, get the mat on the floor, towels down, brace, brace, brace,” Mike dished.
Luckily they had help in the form of Zara’s long-time best friend, Dolly Maude, who was present at the birth –
as she had been for the delivery of Mia and Lena.
Dolly was maid of honour at the Tindalls’ 2011 wedding and, according to her LinkedIn profile, worked as a maternity practitioner for 13 years.
“She’s actually more important than I am,” Mike quipped. “She was there and recognised that we wouldn’t have got to the hospital in time.
“Fortunately, the midwife who was going to meet us at the hospital wasn’t that far away, so she drove up, got there just as we’d assumed the position, and then the second midwife arrived just after the head had arrived.”
Mike told his fellow podcast hosts, former rugby players Alex Payne and James Haskell, how after snipping the cord he took his new son straight downstairs to watch sport on TV.
“The best thing about being at home was, as soon as he’s wrapped up, you’re skin on skin, straight downstairs, TV room, golf on, and I was like, this is what me and you are doing.
“There was actually a ridiculously old rugby game on – it was Bath versus Wigan – and I was like, we’re gonna stick that on first. And then I went to the final day of the golf.”
Zara, who Mike describes as “a warrior”, is clearly made from stern stock: she was out walking with her newborn the very next day.
She suffered two miscarriages before eventually getting pregnant with Lena in 2017 and both she and Mike were hoping for a boy to complete their family, so “there’s a lot of joy”, a royal insider says.
However, it hasn’t all been love and light for the Tindalls this year. Mike recently found himself in the headlines when it emerged his company had been claiming from the furlough scheme instigated by the UK government to help businesses struggling in the pandemic.
His company, Kimble Trading Ltd, which manages all his business interests and engagements, issued a statement at the height of the UK’s second wave.
“The outbreak of Covid-19 and subsequent restrictions imposed led to a number of events in 2020 being cancelled,” it read. “The company has taken advantage of all available government aid in order to support the business and its employees through the crisis.”
Mike is worth an estimated £15,7 million (about R323,4m) so the furlough application didn’t go down well. “It’s a bit rich for Mike Tindall to be taking money from the public purse,” British politician Nigel Mills said.
The reaction was even harsher on Twitter where one user branded Mike an “immoral, unscrupulous scumbag”.
A spokesperson for the company said Mike hadn’t personally received any money from the grant but refused to answer any further questions.
MIKE hasn’t addressed the controversy but shortly before little Lucas’ birth he opened up about his financial concerns in an interview with The Times. “You always worry about money,” he said.
“I was very fortunate that I had a couple of ambassadorial roles [with sponsors] so you know there’s money coming in. But sponsorships won’t last forever. You’ve got to plan and now with a third on the way and what’s coming down the line in terms of school bills, fees to pay . . .”
Mike retired from professional rugby in July 2014 and described the ensuing six months when he had “nowhere to go” every day as “not darkdark but overcast at times”.
He’s since found success as an after-dinner speaker, regaling event attendees with anecdotes from his rugby days and glimpses of life inside the royal family.
Zara reportedly doesn’t receive a cent from the royal purse but the Olympic equestrian makes about £2m (R41,2m) a year, thanks to lucrative sponsorship deals with the likes of Land Rover, Samsung, outdoor clothing firm Musto, investment company Artemis and Rolex watches.
Home for the Tindalls is a country pile on the Gatcombe Park Estate in Gloucestershire where Princess Anne and her second husband, retired navy officer Timothy Laurence, also live.
Zara’s brother, Peter Phillips, has a home on the estate too, close to his estranged wife, Autumn, and daughters Isa (10) and Savannah (8).
“We’re together as a farm in a bubble, so it’s great that you’re with your family 24/7,” Mike said earlier this year of life in lockdown. “There’s nothing to do apart from go for walks. So it’s great and bizarrely weird at the same time.”
Now, of course, he has a son to watch sport with – whether the kid likes it or not.