Mike Tindall reveals what Kate and William are actually like behind closed doorways – and says royal followers can be ‘blown away’

Mike Tindall has revealed the British people would be ‘blown away’ if they could see what the Prince and Princess of Wales are like behind closed doors.

The ex-rugby ace, 46, discussed his wife Zara’s cousin Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, in his new book The Good, the Bad & the Rugby – Unleashed.

He harked back to September 2023 when the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 42, appeared with Princess Anne (Mike’s mother-in-law) on his podcast of the same name with co-hosts, James Haskell and Alex Payne. 

The father-of-three also praised his mother-in-law, the Princess Royal, for knowing ‘more about sport than almost anyone I’ve met’ – although as a former equestrian Olympian, this may not be too much of a surprise for royal fans.

Speaking about Kate and William, who are also parents-of-three, Mike said: ‘I think the podcast humanised them a little bit, and I kind of wish they’d let us put the uncut version out, because it would have blown the public away.’

He continued: ‘They came across as down-to-earth, fully engaged, funny and knowledgeable… it was a far more enlightening chat than I expected, not because I thought they’d be dull (I already knew that they weren’t), but because I know how everything to do with the royal family is so carefully controlled.’ 

The surprise appearance by the Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied by the Princess Royal, on The Good, the Bad and The Rugby, delighted royal fans when it was announced last September.

The episode, which was recorded during the Rugby World Cup, invited the royals onto the podcast as patrons of the WRU, RFU & SRU.

During the discussion at Windsor Castle, the subject of competitiveness was raised, with Kate and William being asked about competition between them and one of the presenters revealing that Mike had compared them to Monica from sitcom Friends, who is known for her insatiable desire to always be the best at everything.

He said: ‘I’m not going to lie… but Mike has made out both of you are super, super competitive, a bit like Monica from Friends, and if you guys play table tennis it will go on for hours and hours, and be like, double or quits.’

To which Kate replied: ‘I’m really not that competitive, I don’t know where this has come from.’

She then joked that she and William have never managed to finish a game of tennis, giggling as she explained that ‘it becomes a mental challenge between the two of us’.

Mike then asked if the couple’s three children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, are showing signs of competitiveness.

Princess Anne interjected to say: ‘Just a little bit, I would suggest.’

Kate revealed: ‘What’s interesting is that they all obviously [have] very different temperaments.

‘And as they’re growing and trying out different sports – they’re obviously still really young – it’s going be interesting to see how that grows and develops.’

Earlier in the podcast, William had spoken about how important sports are for children, especially when it comes to learning about winning and losing.

Talking about the skills you gain from ‘those early years of playing team sport’, he said: ‘Learning to lose, which I think we’ve got to concentrate more on nowadays.

‘I think people don’t know how to lose well. Talking about our children particularly, I want to make sure they understand that.

‘I think it’s really important from a young age to understand how to lose, and why we lose, and to grow from it and what you learn from that process.

‘But also to win well, and not boast. There’s so many life lessons that help us all through life, in friendship building, in relationship building, workplace, that you gain from those early years of playing team sport.’

He also opened up about enjoying his cousin Zara’s sporting success, revealing that the only time he’s ever cried was when watching the now 42-year-old win the European championship in 2006.

William said: ‘I was down in Exmoor at the time camping. We were all huddling around the phone watching it. She was there she was blubbing away the flag was going up. I was in pieces.’

As he reflected on the podcast and his relationship with senior members of the royal family, Mike also discussed how the public perception of being a senior working royal is largely inaccurate and explained it’s about much more than ‘shaking a few hands’ and ‘cutting the odd ribbon’.

Instead, he continued, life as a senior member of The Firm is ‘all-consuming’ in an extract from his new book.

Tindall, who shares close relationships with several of his in-laws, added it was ‘frustrating’ to allow these myths to perpetuate but that he had learnt to ‘live with it’ over the years. 

‘In fact, that’s one of the royal family’s mottos: ‘Never explain, never complain.’ I try not to think about it, although it took me a long time to get to that point,’ he continued. 

‘And I also try to be myself. Maybe that’s why I reverse pothole so much, because I want people to know that I’m actually a decent bloke, which goes back to wanting to be liked.’ 

Mike and Zara tied the knot at Canongate Kirk on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile on July 30, 2011. 

Zara is the daughter of Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips, making her 21st in line to the British throne. 

She announced her engagement to Tindall, who designed the ring himself, in December 2010, four months before the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate tied the knot at Westminster Abbey. 

Since their summer wedding in 2011, Mike and Zara’s down-to-earth personalities and their love-filled public appearances have endeared the royal couple to the British public. 

They share three children, daughters Mia, 10, and Lena, six, and son, Lucas, three. 

Elsewhere in his book, Mike recalled how joining the royal family after his 2011 wedding to Zara was ‘pretty easy for me’. 

He reportedly wrote: ‘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.’ 

The former rugby star also claimed life within the royal family was ‘nothing like Downton Abbey’, referring to Julian Fellowes’ much-loved period drama about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. 

In an extract from his book, he said: ‘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.’ 

Instead, Mike continued, he and Zara would ‘often watch the racing with her’ on TV, as most other people ‘have done with their gran’. 

The release of Mike’s new book comes on the same day that the paperback version of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare hits bookshelves. 

The book was originally published on January 10, 2023, and contained a number of accusations against the royal family, including the allegation that Prince William physically attacked his younger brother. 

He also claimed that it was William and Kate’s idea for him to wear a Nazi costume, complete with a swastika, to a fancy dress party in 2005. 

Elsewhere, he called his role as best man at William’s wedding to Kate in 2011 a ‘bare-faced lie’, while separately alleging that King Charles and Queen Camilla ‘didn’t like Willy and Kate getting too much publicity’. 

Mike, his former England rugby teammate Haskell, 39, and Sky Sports presenter Payne, 44, launched their podcast in the summer of 2020. 

Since then, it has amassed a cult following of over three million listeners over a span of four years and 299 episodes.  

Fans were especially delighted when the co-hosts pulled off a major coup and convinced not one, but three royals, to appear on their hit rugby podcast. 

During an especially memorable episode last September, the show’s hosts were joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales, alongside Princess Anne, for a fireside chat about their shared love for sports – and their ‘competitive nature’. 

When asked about her and William’s friendly sporting rivalry, Kate said ‘I don’t know where this has come from,’ before adding: ‘I don’t think we’ve actually been able to finish a game of tennis. It becomes a mental challenge between the two of us.” 

The princess also revealed that her and William’s children, Louis, George, and Charlotte, were ‘trying out different sports’, adding: ‘It’s going to be interesting to see how that grows and develops.’