Zara Tindall snubbed ahead of wedding as Mike's relative 'dead against' couple's marriage
ZARA TINDALL was snubbed ahead of her wedding to Mike as one of her future husband's relatives was "dead against" the union, according to unearthed reports.
Zara Tindall arrives at her wedding in 2011
Zara Tindall, 41, and her husband Mike, 43, celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary on Saturday. The couple married on 30 July 2011 in a beautiful service at Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, just three months after the high-profile nuptials of Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. Both sports enthusiasts, the pair met during England's Rugby World Cup-winning campaign in Australia in 2003 having been introduced by Zara's cousin Prince Harry.
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Seven years later, in 2010, they announced their engagement and their summer wedding saw a whole host of royal guests, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, the Cambridges and Harry.
While the two chose to have a private wedding, it was by no means small, they still invited 400 of their friends and family to celebrate their union.
However, one of Mike’s relatives was not onboard with the marriage, and, in fact, was “dead against” the former rugby player marrying the Queen’s granddaughter.
During an unearthed interview in the Sunday Times in 2020, Mike and his father Philip discussed what it was like to marry into royalty.
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According to Philip, Mike’s grandmother on his mum’s side did not give the couple her blessing.
He said: “Linda’s mum was dead against it. In her day, royalty married royalty and she thought the wedding would be shunned.”
In spite of his mother-in-law’s concerns, Philip revealed that he and his family got along well with members of the Royal Family.
He said: “Mum and Dad met Princess Anne early on. And it was incredibly relaxed. Zara was living in a little two-bed flat in Nailsworth, so it wasn’t exactly grandiose.”
Mike also opened up on what it was like meeting the most famous family in Britain, describing a relaxed atmosphere despite the high status of his royal in-laws.
He said: "We'd go on a Friday night to watch the match and stop over at Zara's.
"Sometimes we'd all go out for lunch with Zara's mum on Sunday before we went home.
“We spent quite a bit of time with her dad too.
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“Prince Harry would often be round watching the rugby, so, slowly and quietly, we got to meet them all – and that's how it went on for quite a few years."
Mike’s relationship with the Duke of Sussex was thrust back into the spotlight after an awkward reunion at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations last month.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle had returned to the UK with their two children — Archie and Lilibet — for the first time since their shock exit in 2020.
They only attended one public event during the four-day weekend — the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, June 3.
All eyes were on them when they met up with other royals and while Zara seemed happy to see her cousin, the same could not be said for her husband.
In the BBC footage of the event, Mike appeared to visibly avoid speaking to the Sussexes at the end of the service and was seen staring off into the distance with a “look of awkwardness,” according to body language expert Judi James.
She told Express.co.uk at the time: “With Mike’s closeness to William in mind it also appeared to have created a bit of a dilemma as Harry stepped out into Zara’s group as they waited for their transport,
"Zara looks happy to chat and even turns fully to talk to Harry here, who is looking anxious and keen to get into his own car.
"Mike though remains facing forward, looking about and holding his order of service up with a look of awkwardness.”
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Later in the weekend, Mike was reportedly overheard referring to Harry’s behaviour as that of a “b*****d”.
Mike has previously joked that he would like to “throw a few punches” at the Duke of Sussex.
He made the comments during A Question of Sport Live at the London Palladium back in September 2021.
He was joined by former England rugby player Matt Dawson, who recounted a night out with Prince Harry and ex-teammate Iain Balshaw in Sydney in 2003.
Royal expert Richard Eden said Balshaw and Tindall thought it would be “amusing to throw a few punches” at the prince to test how long it would take Harry’s personal protective officers to intervene.