Mike Tindall has revealed Princess Catherine is the most “uber competitive” member of the Royal Family- particularly when it comes to drinking games.
The former English rugby union player, who married Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall in 2011, made the candid admission while discussing the monarchy’s love of sport in an interview with Woman & Home magazine.
“Sport is rife throughout the [Royal] family – everyone is competitive,” Tindall said.
“We did a podcast [with William, Catherine, and Princess Anne] on how much they love sport.”
Tindall then singled out the 44-year-old Princess of Wales, revealing her competitive side becomes especially apparent during social gatherings.
“I knew that the Princess of Wales was uber competitive because I’d seen her play a drinking game called beer pong, but normally we play prosecco pong! She still plays it with us.”
The father-of-three previously discussed the royal family’s sporting nature during a special episode of The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast recorded at Windsor Castle in 2023.
During the episode, Princess Catherine admitted that even casual games between herself and Prince William can quickly turn intense.
Sitting alongside Prince William and Princess Anne in the Green Drawing Room, Catherine revealed the couple had never successfully completed a game of tennis together because “it becomes a mental challenge between the two of us”.
Tindall has also spoken openly about how sport helped him bond with the royals after marrying into the family.
Speaking previously with Australian golfing legend Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley, he described the family as deeply passionate about sport.
“As a family, they’re sport loving,” Mike said.
“With Princess Anne being the patron of Scottish rugby as well, and now, obviously, the Princess of Wales being the patron of England and Wales respectively, I was very fortunate that they knew a lot about rugby and had that sports side to them that they all love.”
When Riley joked that Tindall had “just cruised in there” when joining the monarchy, the former rugby star laughed off the suggestion.
“I wouldn’t say I cruised in there. It’s a journey you never plan for. But they were just so good. And so open to me.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Tindall reflected on his relationship with Zara- an Olympic equestrian- and how their shared elite sporting backgrounds have strengthened their marriage over the years.
“It’s sort of something that’s worked for us,” he said.
“Especially, me being in a team sport, and her being in an individual sport… it helps us to understand each other.
“You can recognise what sort of framework they’re in… when you understand people’s routines and how to be supportive of each other at the right times.”
While senior royals rarely discuss family life publicly, Tindall has become known for occasionally offering rare behind-the-scenes insights into life inside the monarchy, particularly through his podcast and his 2024 memoir The Good, The Bad, and The Rugby: Unleashed.
More recently, the royal in-law sparked headlines after speaking about Prince Harry during an appearance at the Hay Literary Festival in Powys alongside podcast co-hosts James Haskell and Alex Payne.
Reflecting on his 2011 wedding to Zara, Tindall joked that Haskell had managed to avoid embarrassing himself on the big day- unlike the Duke of Sussex.
“A lot of other people managed that way better than you – [like] Harry, when he was fun,” he joked, as per The Times.
Tindall and Harry were once believed to share a close friendship, with the Duke of Sussex named godfather to Tindall’s second daughter, Lena.
However, royal commentators have long speculated that the relationship cooled after Harry’s repeated public criticisms of the monarchy after he and Meghan Markle decided to step back from royal duties in 2020.
The timing of his latest comments also comes amid reports the Sussexes are not invited to Zara’s brother, Peter Phillips’ upcoming wedding to NHS nurse Harriet Sperling.
Harry previously attended Phillips’ 2008 wedding to Autumn Kelly alongside then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.skynews.com.au ’
