Cheeky Louis was on a ‘complete sugar high’
Sweets behind the scenes explain Prince’s exuberant antics, says Mike Tindall in podcast about celebrations
‘The Queen’s officially now an actor. She was bang on. I’ve always said she was funny but she nailed it’
HE won many hearts with his mischievous antics during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, but it appears that Prince Louis’s inability to sit still was fuelled by a little more than just boyish energy.
Mike Tindall, whose wife Zara is the Duke of Cambridge’s cousin, says the young prince had “complete sugar highs” during the pageant after consuming sweets behind the scenes.
Tindall also revealed that the Queen’s grandchildren and their families enjoyed a private lunch after Trooping the Colour, which he described as one of the highlights of the bank holiday weekend.
He also praised the monarch’s Paddington Bear sketch, hailing it as proof of her fantastic sense of humour.
Tindall, who was pictured jokingly warning a boisterous Prince Louis, four, that he was watching him during the pageant, spoke fondly about the celebrations on his podcast The Good, The Bad and The Rugby.
He was seated directly behind the Cambridges with his wife Zara, the Queen’s eldest granddaughter, and their children Mia, eight, Lena, three, and Lucas, one.
He said: “Louis was just wanting to have fun, and my two [daughters] are always mischievous, so it was about trying to keep a lid on.
“There were a lot of sweets out back, though, so they had complete sugar highs. It’s tough for them. They’re all young, so asking them to sit, because it was two till five or whatever, it’s a long time. As any parent knows, you just do whatever needs to be done.”
Prince Louis was the unexpected star of the jubilee weekend after waving excitedly from his carriage during Trooping the Colour, making an array of faces while the Red Arrows flew over Buckingham Palace and chatting animatedly with the Queen on the balcony.
As he took his seat in the Royal Box on The Mall on Sunday alongside his parents and siblings, Prince George, eight, and Princess Charlotte, seven, the youngster appeared to be in no mood to sit still.
He gestured energetically throughout, putting his fingers in his ears, throwing a cushion around and constantly asking his mother questions, at one point clamping his hand over her mouth. After seemingly getting tired of his own seat, he decided to play musical chairs and went to sit with his grandfather, the Prince of Wales, for a while.
The Cambridges joked on Twitter: “We all had an incredible time, especially Louis.”
Tindall also revealed: “We had a good cousins’ lunch on the Thursday.
“Outside of that, I think the concert was very, very cool. But going to the Derby for the first time ever was a unique experience that I enjoyed.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who joined “the cousins” to watch Trooping the Colour from the Major General’s office overlooking Horse Guards Parade, are not thought to have joined the family lunch. Tindall, a member of England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning team, also mentioned his small talk with the Prime Minister during the pageant.
“I was talking with Boris Johnson about the ability to firefight,” he said.
“There’s so many questions you want to ask – it’s not really the right time to do it. It was just basic pleasantries.
“He asked a bit about rugby. He thought we won in 1999, but there you go. But he was all right.”
On the subject of the Queen’s surprise Paddington Bear skit, he said: “She’s officially now a qualified actor, that was probably the best thing.
“She was bang on. I’ve always said she was funny, but she nailed it.”
He added: “And to see the amount of people. Obviously down The Mall you can all see it, but everywhere going through London trying to get anywhere, it was just chaotic but in a good way, in a happy way.
“That’s the biggest thing I’ll take away from it.”