Zara Tindall: Husband Mike announces wife’s pregnancy
Zara, the Queen’s eldest granddaughter, is pregnant with her third child, her husband Mike revealed yesterday. They already have two daughters: Mia, six, and Lena, two, but are looking forward to welcoming the “third Tindall” into the world. Mia, Lena and the new baby, despite being descended from royalty, will be able to lead relatively normal lives compared to many of their relatives.
Growing up, Zara and her brother Peter were also able to have a relatively normal life by royal standards, in part because their mother Princess Anne decided not to give them titles and to raise them away from the limelight.
While they are close, the siblings are like any other and bickered when they were growing up.
According to Peter, Zara even tried to boss him around and was always involved in something “fun and boisterous”.
He said: “Most little sisters are annoying and Zara was no exception.
READ MORE: Zara Tindall ‘shocked herself’ with reaction to motherhood
Zara Tindall and her brother Peter Phillips (Image: GETTY)
Peter and Zara in 1984 (Image: GETTY)
“She tried to boss me around and tell me what to do.
“Wild is probably an unfair attribute to attach to her, but she was certainly at the centre of anything that was happening that was fun and boisterous.”
While they fought when they were younger, they have remained close and Peter is said to be very protective of his younger sister.
When Peter and Zara were 11 and eight respectively, their parents Princess Anne and Mark Phillips announced their intention to separate.
Zara and Peter Phillips in 1988 (Image: GETTY)
At this difficult time, they turned to each other.
Zara told The Times in 2018 that while the separation was sad for them both, it had been done in a way to limit the hurt.
The pair also both attended Gordonstoun, a tough boarding school in Scotland where Prince Philip attended and Prince Charles famously hated.
However, Zara held her school days in a higher regard.
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Peter and Zara at Gordonstoun in 1990 (Image: GETTY)
She said: “I loved school, I loved sport and being with my mates all the time.
“I don’t know how much work I did. You do get homesick, but I had so much fun and Pete was very protective.
“All his friends were too. They kept me out of trouble. After Dorset, I joined him at Gordonstoun.
“He hung out with a group of lads who liked to have fun, but he always knew how to get away with stuff.
Zara Tindall says family occasions are about ‘hanging out’
“When he was made head boy, I thought, ‘How did you manage that?’”
She added: “Did I ever hook up with any of his friends? No way.
“It was was the complete opposite: ‘Don’t go near by sister.’”
When Zara first met Mike in 2003, Peter was reportedly “very watchful” of how he treated his sister.
Zara said he simply wanted the best for her, and his protectiveness is something she admires.
Zara TIndall and Peter Phillips in 2012 (Image: GETTY)
Peter and Zara were fifth and sixth in line to the throne when they were born, but are now 15th and 18th.
Peter was the first legitimate grandchild of a monarch in more than 500 years to be born without a title or courtesy title.
Zara revealed that she has looked up to Peter all her life.
She said: “When I was growing up, he was a great person to have around, he was very level-headed, very calm, considered and grounded.
“He’ll be there no matter what I need.”
