Zara Tindall was left in fits of laughter when her husband Mike Tindall proposed to her whilst she was watching telly, according to a royal expert. During a special fashion-themed episode of Palace Confidential, host Jo Elvin initiated a conversation about royal proposals, namely rugby star Mike Tindall’s proposal to his wife, Zara, the daughter of Princess Anne, the sister of the King.
The Mail’s royal editor, Rebecca English, along with Claire Cisotti were part of the discussion where Jo highlighted that Mike’s proposal was quite “down-to-earth”, something they had anticipated. Rebecca shared that Mike, who was cohabiting with Zara in Cheltenham at the time, had made it clear that it wasn’t a matter of if he would propose but when, and he wanted it to be a surprise for Zara.
She explained: “So, for him, there wasn’t a grand gesture. There was no sunset. There were no flowers. There were no rainbows.”
Rebecca went on to say: “He basically just walked into the house one day, I think, while she was watching TV and literally, yeah, got down on one knee and said, ‘Would you marry me?’ because he wanted to really catch her off guard.
“And apparently, she burst out laughing and laughed for ages, but I think it was laughter of delight, and eventually got out, ‘Yes’, and actually, I think that’s really rather lovely in its own way.”
Zara and Mike eventually tied the knot in July 2011 at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh. The couple hosted their reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, with the party reportedly featuring a vodka fountain.
It seems the couple enjoy sharing a joke together, as reports surfaced in March that Zara once got her own back on her husband following a heavy night, according to the Mail.
The former England rugby star, who was supposed to attend a coaching clinic the next morning, had been out with a mate and was battling to get back to Anne’s flat at St James’ Palace, where he was staying at the time.
Nevertheless, there was no cause for concern about missing his commitment, as Zara enlisted the palace police, who stormed into his room wielding machine guns to rouse him.
Mike revealed: “I was meant to be there in 45 minutes. My friend rings up Zara, who phoned the police post at the palace.
“They started giggling, saying they saw me at 4am on video cameras struggling to get to the doorway. She says, “I don’t care what you do. He needs to be in North London in 35 minutes.”
As a result, Mike apparently found himself in the back of a cab in as little as “three minutes”, noting that the police were “waving” him off.
He recounted the amusing tale at a fundraising event for DEBRA, which supports individuals living with epidermolysis bullosa (EB). According to the NHS,the term refers to a group of rare skin disorders.