ZARA and MIKE TINDALL Looking back on their love story as they mark ten years of marriage
WHY THE SPORTY COUPLE ARE STILL A WINNING TEAM
After
their high- octane day date at the British Grand Prix recently, Zara and Mike Tindall have more reason to smile as they celebrate ten years of marriage this Friday.
It has been a decade since the Queen’s granddaughter said “I do” to her rugby ace beau on 30 July 2011, in a low-key ceremony at the historic Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh in front of the Queen, the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and other senior royals.
Still as loved-up as ever, the couple will no doubt be celebrating their happy milestone. Former England rugby union captain Mike recently shared the secret behind their long and happy marriage. “A lot can change over ten years. I think the fact that [Zara] has always been my best friend has been the key,” he said in an interview. “At the end of the day we can sit down and laugh at each other and have a good time.”
On a separate occasion, he has quipped: “I don’t know if I’ve got any top tips [for marriage]. She’s always right, is that a top tip?”
Ever since they met in a bar in Sydney during England’s Rugby World Cup- winning campaign in 2003, Zara and Mike have
‘We can sit down
and laugh at each other and have a
good time’
Mike
become known as one of the royal family’s most fun-loving and down-to-earth couples.
So, as they celebrate their long-lasting love this week, they have many happy memories to look fondly back on – not least their nuptials, which took place three months after the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Their star-studded guest list combined royalty with Mike’s rugby friends, who included Jonny Wilkinson and Austin Healey, as well as showbiz names, from presenters Natalie Pinkham and Kirsty Gallacher to actress Katherine Kelly.
Full of excitement to be marrying her longterm love, the beautiful bride captivated the crowds gathered on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile when she arrived at the 17th-century church in a radiant ivory silk faille and silk duchesse satin gown designed by the Queen’s couturier, Stewart Parvin, who told hello! at the time: “Like any other bride, [Zara] was so happy and excited and she looked absolutely stunning.”
She paired her gown with the regal Greek Key Tiara, on loan from her mother Princess Anne and once owned by her greatgrandmother Princess Alice of Battenberg.
The traditional ceremony was followed by a lavish reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where guests watched the newlyweds’ first dance to I’ve Got You Under My Skin before partying into the early hours.
JOY AFTER HEARTBREAK
Now, as they enter their second decade of marriage, Zara and Mike are as much a winning team as ever. They’re united in their joy at being parents and Mike has proudly praised his “warrior” wife for bringing their children into the world. “As every man will say, she was a warrior as always. They always are,” he has said on his podcast The Good, The Bad & The Rugby.
Three years after tying the knot, Zara and Mike welcomed daughter Mia Grace on 17 January 2014, and shared the first photos of their bundle of joy exclusively in hello!. Opening up about the birth, Zara told
hello!: “Afterwards you are pretty amazed at what you’ve created. I still keep looking at Mia and thinking: ‘Oh! We made that!’”
Meanwhile new dad Mike added that “her birth was the best day of my life so far”.
Four years later, on 18 June 2018, Zara and Mike became parents for the second time when they welcomed baby Lena Elizabeth. “Her middle name, Elizabeth, is after someone who’s a bit of a legend,” Mike pointed out at the time.
The arrival of their second daughter brought joy after heartbreak for the pair, as they sadly suffered two miscarriages before Zara fell pregnant with Lena. “It was a time when my family came to the fore and I needed them,” she said in 2018.
Earlier this year, Zara and Mike added to their brood by welcoming their first son, Lucas. Mike had been open about his desire for a son last year, saying: “I’ll love it whether a boy or a girl – but please be a boy.”
His wish came true and Lucas made a dramatic arrival into the world on 21 March. “[He] arrived very quickly. Didn’t make it to hospital – on the bathroom floor,”
‘It was a time when my family came to the fore and I needed them’ Zara
revealed Mike when he shared the happy news on his podcast.
Now that they are parents of three, Zara has an even bigger crowd cheering her on at the equestrian events she loves competing in, as Mike and the children are often seen enjoying fun family days out at horse trials, giving their playful girls Mia and Lena a chance to let off some steam. Both champions in their own right, Zara and Mike’s shared passion for sport is just another reason why they’re so perfectly matched.
Earlier this year, Mike said in an interview: “I think there’s a lot of balance. It’s always been good for us being two professional sports people. It’s a bit clichéd but you understand each other, what your motivations are. I think that’s why we gel.”
Zara’s sporting success over the years has seen her make history by becoming the first member of the immediate royal family to win an Olympic medal – a silver in eventing at London 2012 – as well as winning European and world champion titles, while Mike has his Rugby World Cup winner’s medal and 75 caps to his name.
Each has remained the other’s support throughout the highs and lows of their sporting careers, often stepping into the roles of motivator and shoulder to cry on. Mike encouraged Zara to take her talent for riding more seriously, so no one was prouder than him when she won her Olympic silver. He later said it gave her “the edge” when it came to comparing their achievements.
“For me, the Olympics is the No. 1 sporting occasion in the world, and Zara and the team smashed it,” Mike said in 2012. “People may have
their perceptions about Zara and her family, but they don’t see her as I do, working with her horses from the crack of dawn until late in the day.”
Both Zara and Mike have passed their passion for sport to their eldest children, and little Lucas will enjoy the same outdoorsy upbringing as his sisters. “They both ride,” Zara said of Mia and Lena at the end of 2019. “Lena is in a little basket on the saddle, purely a passenger, but we just bought Mia a new pony called Magic.”
Zara has said Mia loves swimming and has had surf lessons in Devon, and Mike has revealed: “Mia is a fantastic bundle of energy and that challenges you as well and keeps it interesting. Lena is just starting to find her feet.”
As with everything they do, Zara and Mike seem to have risen to the challenges of raising children with characteristic good humour, with Mike recently jokingly comparing parenthood to “running a logistics company”.
‘I can only say how kind the royal family have been to me’ Mike
‘People don’t see Zara as I do, working with her horses from the crack of dawn until late in the day’ Mike
JOINING THE FIRM
Their milestone wedding anniversary also marks a decade since Mike became part of the royal family, for whom he has always been full of praise. In 2012, speaking exclusively to hello!, Mike said of the Queen: “She is the hardest-working person I have come across. When you meet her she is just so down to earth and always seems to know everything going on with me, like whether I am fit or injured. She is so knowledgeable.”
He added in a recent interview: “I can only say how kind they’ve been to me, and how welcoming they’ve been to me since joining the family. I’ve always felt part of it and I think that’s down to what an amazing woman the Queen is.”