Zara Tindall has revealed she’s lucky Princess Anne didn’t give her a royal title after opening up about her family in a new podcast.
The mother-of-three and her husband Mike, who live on Princess Anne’s Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire, were interviewed by former rugby player Rob Burrow. The Total Sports Podcast.
During the discussion, Rob – who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019 – asked the couple what advice they would give their seven-year-old selves.
Although she was initially intimidated by the question, Zara discussed her role in the company – and how glad she was that Princess Anne didn’t force her and her brother Peter to work for the royal family.
He explained: 'From my point of view, my mother was very lucky not to give us any titles, so I admire her a lot.
’We were very lucky, we did it our own way.
’My family has a great work ethic which I believe they instilled in me and continue to this day.
’Hopefully, we can pass it on to our children. Now,my brother and my cousins want to go back and do the same things, and hopefully our kids will have the same experiences we did when we were growing up.
’You don’t really appreciate it until you’re older and have kids.’
When Princess Anne welcomed her son Peter in 1977, she and her then-husband Mark Phillips decided they did not want to give their children the HRH titles they were entitled to in order to raise them as normal as possible.
Zara told her younger self to 'listen a little harder’ and work harder at school.
Elsewhere on the podcast, Mike and Zara revealed that they affectionately call each other 'Munchkin’.
Mike says: 'We basically call each other munchkins. I don’t know why it started, but it stuck.
’I’ll decide if she wants to give me what I have on Zara’s phone…’
Zara replies: 'He’s something else on my phone and it ends with a kitten.’
The conversation prompted Rob to quiz the rugby star on other family nicknames.
Mike says: 'For the Prince of Wales, he’s called One Pint Willie.
’He’s known to me as One Pint Willie because he’s not a great drinker, comes from a sport built around the social aspect and sinks a couple of beers every so often. That’s what I’d give for the Prince of Wales.
’Oh my god. You are in a lot of trouble.’
Mike admits his two-year-old son Lucas dreams of becoming a professional golfer – and wanted to give him the middle name 'Mulligan’.
Says the 2003 Rugby World Cup winner, 'A two-year-old is what holds my dreams together.
“I actually wanted his middle name to be Mulligan, because if he became a professional golfer, he would drop Lucas and become Mulligan Tyndall.
’I thought it would be a great golf name. And mulligan means descendant of the bald man, so it was perfect!’
Burrow tells Tyndalls that he wants to present an alternative Christmas message on Channel 4 at the same time as the King’s Christmas message on the BBC.
Zara says: 'I think you could do another Christmas speech. You will definitely rock it and be a great inspiration to many people.
’I’m sure (King Charles) will let you do your own thing. I hope to see it at least once. I think you should record it and send it out anyway!’
„Totalny pionier w sieci. Specjalista od piwa niezależny. Ewangelista popkultury. Miłośnik muzyki. Nieprzepraszający przedsiębiorca”.