Zara Tindall
Tongue piercing and Coke from the can! Ex-butler raves about time with rebellious royal
© Max Mumby/Indigo / Getty Images
Zara Tindall is considered the sympathetic radiant woman among the British royals. The rider leads a relatively down-to-earth life with her husband Mike and their three children. Where King Charles’ niece shows up, fun is guaranteed. That was always her biggest pound, remembers a former employee in the service of the crown.
Charm, esprit and wit! Zara Tindall, 41, knows how to enchant those around her. Princess Anne’s daughter, 72, was not only the favorite granddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth, †96, but also likes to make her uncle King Charles, 74, laugh. The show jumper doesn’t take royal protocol too seriously, giving royal fans a refreshing behind-the-scenes look at official occasions as she warmly and teasingly interacts with her family. As a teenager, however, the mother of three drove it pretty wild and was considered a rebel. This culminated in a glittering accessory that one would never have expected in this form from a scion of the royal family. The media was upside down at the time.
Zara Tindall caused a sensation with a tongue piercing
“She was the first member of the royal family I met. I was working in Scotland and it was the weekend. It was in the press that she had her tongue pierced and it was so exciting because when she was with us speaking, I saw the tongue piercing and I was like, ‘Oh, I saw it,'” former royal butler Grant Harrold told the Express. At that time he worked for seven years in the service of the current king and met his niece on many occasions. Zara “always went her own way” and fought for more freedom than any other royal. “She’s always done it her way and done her thing. You see her in the cities with her kids shopping, she doesn’t have bodyguards or anything, she’s really like us.”
If you look closely, it’s not just Zara’s smile that flashes at this 1999 equestrian event in the grounds of Gatcombe Park. Princess Anne’s daughter had had her tongue pierced a few years earlier, which caused a stir.
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And so it’s not surprising that the royal knew what she wanted from a young age. “I remember she asked for a coke and I was like ‘a coke?’ but of course why not, she was only 17. The housekeeper insisted I have a glass because that was the norm. I think I even brought it to her on a tray and she was like, ‘I’ll just take the can’.”
“She’s down to earth, she’s funny, she’s cheeky”
Grant attributes Zara’s authenticity to a landmark decision her mother made at birth. “She’s down to earth, she’s funny, she’s sassy. The deal that was made at the time was Anne didn’t want her kids to have titles so they could have normal lives and do normal things, that was it, what she wanted.”
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Despite everything, Zara, her husband Mike and their children are in the public eye. “Of course they are [sie] famous, how can you be a member of the royal family and not be famous? People say they’re not senior members of the royal family, but they are. I would classify them as senior non-working members of the royal family, a bit like Harry and Meghan. They’re senior members of the family but they can do whatever they want, they have their own lives, but they’re still members of the royal family and I’m sure some of the things they do go past other people. “
Zara in the jungle camp? Why not!?
Other, more unusual things for members of the royal family, however, hit like a bomb. When Mike Tindall flew to Australia in autumn 2022 and moved to the British jungle camp as a participant, it probably didn’t just shock the royal relatives at first. Royal fans and press alike have been irritated, to say the least, at the ex-rugby pro’s participation on the reality show. A consternation that quickly turned into enthusiasm. The rough-and-ready athlete didn’t manage to win the jungle crown for himself, but he convinced with his sympathetic nature and entertained an audience of millions with anecdotes and small background reports about the royal family.
In the weeks following the TV event, Mike’s bravura performance inspired hopeful speculation about his wife’s adventure ambitions. Grant Harrold doesn’t want to rule out anything: “Could Zara go into the jungle? Of course she could, 100 percent. Why should she? Why not, great PR for the royal family.”
Source used: express.co.uk