{"id":1458,"date":"2026-02-03T02:17:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T02:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/royal.tarotdenadiamartin.com\/?p=1458"},"modified":"2026-02-03T02:17:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T02:17:55","slug":"mike-tindall-has-opened-up-about-the-delightfully-unromantic-yet-charming-way-he-first-met-his-wife-zara-phillips-no-princely-ballrooms-or-destined-glances-involved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/royal.tarotdenadiamartin.com\/?p=1458","title":{"rendered":"Mike Tindall has opened up about the delightfully unromantic yet charming way he first met his wife, Zara Phillips\u2014no princely ballrooms or destined glances involved."},"content":{"rendered":"

The pair have been married since 2011\u00a0(Image: Getty)<\/span><\/p>\n

Mike Tindall has revealed the hilarious sliding doors moment that led to him meeting\u00a0Zara. Former\u00a0Rugby World Cup\u00a0winner\u00a0Tindall\u00a0was speaking at an event for Off the Ball Rugby, told how freak injuries to team mates during their victorious 2003 campaign set the scene for him to meet his future wife.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Recalling how injuries to two players meant that England international Austin Healey was flown out to\u00a0Australia\u00a0to play in the forthcoming semi-final. However, a miraculous recovery for the two players whilst Healey was on the plane Down Under meant that his services were no longer required. Tindall said: \u201cSo he lands on the Wednesday and World Cup rules have weird rules so if you are not officially part of the squad, you are not allowed to stay within a one and a half mile radius of the hotel.<\/p>\n

\"F1<\/p>\n

The pair have become a popular royal couple\u00a0(Image: Getty)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo he is literally in a hotel by himself and me and Cozza took pity and decided to go and meet him for a beer.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it turns out that when I was in the Sydney Wharf Bar Hotel, that is where I met Zara for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was the best f***ing decision of Clive Woodward\u2019s (England team manager) life and that is why you now call him Sir Clive Woodward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike and Zara tied the knot in 2011 and have since welcomed three children together \u2013 Mia, Lena and Lucas.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cEnded up being quite a boozy one. Then we figured out that we both quite like getting smashed. It was a good start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking previously about the pair\u2019s meeting, Tindall recalled: \u201cShe was on her gap year and in Australia with friends, Clive had just told me I was dropped for the semi-final, so I went out for a beer with two others who weren\u2019t playing.<\/p>\n

\u201cZara was in the same bar; we got introduced but didn\u2019t speak that much. Later on, Austin gave me her number and said, \u2018she wants you to text her, to say where you\u2019re all going out after the final so she can come along\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking while he was a contestant on I\u2019m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Tindall told campmates how the pair had several things in common despite being born into different worlds.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on how they met, Tindall recalled how the couple hit it off and went for \u201clunch locally\u201d for their first real date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The pair have been married since 2011\u00a0(Image: Getty) Mike Tindall has revealed the hilarious sliding doors moment that led to him meeting\u00a0Zara. Former\u00a0Rugby World Cup\u00a0winner\u00a0Tindall\u00a0was speaking at an event for… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[111,759,757,122,575,756,758],"class_list":["post-1458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royal-news","tag-about","tag-charming","tag-delightfully","tag-first","tag-opened","tag-tindall","tag-unromantic"],"yoast_head":"\nMike Tindall has opened up about the delightfully unromantic yet charming way he first met his wife, Zara Phillips\u2014no princely ballrooms or destined glances involved. -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/royal.tarotdenadiamartin.com\/?p=1458\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mike Tindall has opened up about the delightfully unromantic yet charming way he first met his wife, Zara Phillips\u2014no princely ballrooms or destined glances involved. -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The pair have been married since 2011\u00a0(Image: Getty) Mike Tindall has revealed the hilarious sliding doors moment that led to him meeting\u00a0Zara. 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