Mike Tindall shared some royal family insights in his book called The Good, The Bad and The Rugby – Unleashed, in which Zara Phillips’s husband spoke about the late Queen

Mike Tindall has gushed over a poignant photograph of his daughter Mia with the late Prince Philip – which he says shows how “normal” his family is.

The former rugby ace, who married into the royal family after wedding Zara Phillips in 2011, opened up about his life with the Firm in a new book released on Thursday. In The Good, The Bad and The Rugby – Unleashed, the 45-year-old man attempts to set the record straight about what life being part of the Firm is like – and what he experienced spending time with the late Queen.

Although he concedes there is “a lot of drama surrounding the royal family”, Mike insists Zara’s relations are “normal”. He alludes to a photograph he’s since resurfaced on his Instagram of his daughter Mia and the late Prince Philip, her great-grandfather, in the garden of a royal property. The snap is believed to have been taken during a family holiday in Scotland in the years before Philip’s death in April 2021.

Writing in his book, Mike says: “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.”

Mike alludes to this image of the late Prince Philip and Mike’s oldest daughter Mia ( 
Image:
mike_tindall12/Instagram)
The poignant snap shows Philip and Mia, now aged 10, eating on a terrace of a wooden cabin property, said to be in Scotland. Two drinks are pictured on the table beside the family’s plates.

Mike, who has three children with Zara, said meals, in particular, show just how everyday the royal family is. He adds: “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.

“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.”

A whole chapter of The Good, The Bad and The Rugby – Unleashed is dedicated to royalty. The rest of the book concerns the sport Mike played professionally for around 20 years. He played 75 times for England between 2000 and 2011, during which time he met Anne, Princess Royal’s daughter Zara in Australia. They confirmed their engagement in 2010, wed the following year and since welcomed Mia, Lena, six, and three-year-old Lucas.