Mike Tindall’s podcast co-host has spilled the beans on how the former England rugby star handles the spotlight due to his ties with the Royal Family, with a carefree attitude of giving ‘zero f***s’.
Mike, who is married to Zara Tindall, Princess Anne’s daughter and King Charles’ niece, recently published a book alongside his co-hosts James Haskell and Alex Payne.
The book, titled ‘The Good, the Bad and the Rugby – Unleashed’, delves into Mike’s royal connections. James Haskell recounts in the book an episode where Mike humorously remarked about Prince Harry following his departure from his role as a working royal.
Mike reportedly joked at a live show about a mock punch on Prince Harry during a rugby World Cup party back in 2003, quipping that the “Royal Family wanted to fill him in for real”. These comments blew up on social media, and the story regained attention partially because of Harry and Meghan Markle’s author ‘friend’, Omid Scobie, according to James.
Describing the fallout in the new book, which hit the shelves today, James commented: “It did come back into public consciousness when that very odd bloke Omid Scobie started sticking up for Harry and Meghan, and loads of trolls went in on Tins, especially about him wanting to fill in a young, defenceless Harry. All context, sarcasm and humour lost, when things are taken out of the zone they were meant to be in, reports the Mirror.
“To be fair to Tins he gives zero f***s about stuff like that, but it’s very annoying for him. Royal fans can be mental. I think we all know that American Royal fans are f***ing nuts, especially Scobieites.”
In another part of the book, Mike shares his experiences with the late Queen and addresses the ‘drama’ surrounding the Royal Family. The former England rugby star, who married Zara, the late monarch’s granddaughter, 13 years ago and has three children with her, is not a working royal but is known to be close to several members of the Firm, including the Prince and Princess of Wales.
He often attends high-profile royal events. In the new book, there is an entire chapter dedicated to royalty where Mike tries to clarify what life as part of the Firm is really like and shares his experiences with the late Queen.
He writes: “I’m sometimes asked if the Queen did informality like ‘normal’ people, and the answer to that is yes. Her life wasn’t like an episode of Downton Abbey, with meals on long tables and everyone dressed in their finery every night, and Zara and I would often watch the racing with her on TV, as I’m sure lots of people reading this have done with their gran. Lunches were also relaxed, especially up in Scotland, where lunch would often be heading out into the open space of the Scottish Highlands for a picnic.
“There’s a great picture of my daughter Mia sitting with the Duke of Edinburgh that captures exactly what those afternoons were like: members of a very close family who loved each other dearly spending precious time together. Yes, there’s a lot of drama surrounding the Royal Family, but they aren’t much different to anyone else underneath it all.”
Yorkshireman Mike also shares that the royals fully understood his background and he felt ‘completely’ accepted. He further adds: “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.”
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