Mike and Zara Tindall sat down for a podcast interview this week, and it turned out to be a headline-generator. Yesterday, we talked about Mike’s nickname for Prince William – “One Pint Willy” – and what it could possibly mean that William is apparently a “bad drinker.” In the interview, Zara also discussed what it was like to grow up the daughter of Princess Anne, but without a title. Anne rejected titles for her children, which allowed them to make all kinds of business deals. Zara is a professional equestrian and she’s had lucrative sponsorships and brand deals for years.

Zara Tindall has revealed she’s ‘lucky’ that Princess Anne didn’t give her a royal title as she spoke candidly about her family in a new podcast. The mother-of-three and her husband Mike, who live in Princes Anne’s Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire, were interviewed by former rugby player Rob Burrow on his Total Sport podcast. During the discussion, Rob – who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019 – asked the couple what advice they would give to their seven-year-old selves.

Although she was originally daunted by the question, Zara went on to discuss her role in the Institution – and how happy she is that Princess Anne didn’t force her and her brother Peter to be working royals.

She explained: ‘From my point of view, I was obviously very lucky that my mother didn’t give us any titles so I really commend her on that. We were very lucky that we got to do it a bit our own way. My family has a great work ethic as well which I’m hoping they instilled in me and is still going to this day. Hopefully, we can pass it onto our kids. Now, my brother and my cousins love to go back and do the same things and I hope that our children have the same experiences that we did when we were growing up. You don’t really appreciate that until you’re older and you’ve got kids.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“My family has a great work ethic…” I mean, her mother has a great work ethic. Her uncle, the king, has a good work ethic. Not so much with her cousins. But at the end of the day, Anne really knew what she was doing by raising her kids as “normal” rather than royal. Zara and Peter get all of the perks of royalty – all of the big invitations, all of the attention that comes with being royal-adjacent – and they still get to make their own money and they’re not being manipulated by King Charles. Plus, now that QEII has passed, I get the feeling that Zara, Mike and Peter feel like “anything goes” with their money-making schemes. Mike seems especially desperate for any kind of paying gig.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.