We all know the Royal Family enjoys a bit of friendly rivalry, but who is the most competitive of all? If you said the Princess of Wales you might just be surprised by Mike Tindall's verdict.
The retired rugby star admits that "sport is rife" throughout the family and he thinks his wife Zara edges out her fellow royals with her competitiveness. Speaking exclusively to Royal Correspondent Emily Andrews in the July issue of woman&home, Mike explains that "individual athletes are more competitive" and adds that "Zara is competitive in everything!"
He suggests that this is because of the "individual mindset" and it makes sense that Olympic Silver Medal-winning Zara would love a competition. It's her livelihood after all and from the sounds of it, Mike was very confident in his answer.
During a segment on the 11th June episode of her Catching Up With The Royals podcast with co-host Reverend Richard Coles, Emily talked more about interviewing Mike and asking him the all-important question.
"I said, 'Who's more competitive? Who's the most competitive?' and he said, 'Zara'," Emily shared. "Zara in *everything*…without any hesitation."
According to Mike, his wife of almost 15 years is also an "amazing cook, better than [him] 100% and better on the barbecue" too. He also opened up to Emily about the couple's drinking games with the Princess of Wales and clarified something key.
When she, Prince William and Princess Anne appeared in a special episode of Mike's The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast in 2023 we heard about Kate's surprising love of beer pong. But the rugby star reveals that it's actually prosecco pong she plays.
He says, "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."
If Zara truly is competitive about "everything" presumably she's keen to win these games with Kate and Mike too. Because they're working royals we get to see Prince William and Kate compete with each other more often when they undertake sports-based engagements.
On Mike's podcast, the Princess of Wales also confessed that behind-the-scenes she's not sure they've ever managed to finish a game of tennis. Instead it apparently becomes a "mental challenge" between them. However, in his book, Meet Ella, Kate's brother James claimed that William is happy to lose at card games.
"Ella [James's late spaniel] gives him a good excuse to escape the fiercely competitive nature of the Middleton family, which emerges every time we play our favourite fast-paced card game, racing demon," James alleged.
"I think he'd prefer to absent himself from the game entirely," he added. "My sisters and I exchange a knowing glance: William, for all the competitive rigour of his military training, is happy to be a loser at cards."
