Thousands met Queen Elizabeth throughout her reign but only a small circle got to see what she was like behind the scenes. Her granddaughter Zara's husband Mike Tindall was one of those few people who spent time with the Queen outside of the public eye but he still hugely regrets how long he "held back" with her.
"I was lucky enough to have the best seat in the house on 14 or 15 occasions when I sat next to the Queen. She was this icon and I knew she had so many stories, but I never asked," he told Emily Andrews in the July issue of woman&home. "For a long time I held back, and I always say that was my biggest regret."
After spending so long admiring her but not wanting to ask questions, Mike's relationship with the monarch became more "normal" after a lunch in Scotland.
He explained that he was sat beside Queen Elizabeth and because of the way things were laid out the retired rugby star ended up with two table legs in front of him. As Mike put it, "I sort of had to do a little man spread" either side of them - unbeknownst to his royal host.
"[T]hen the Queen stood up and started moving the tables closer together! And I said, 'Excuse me, Ma'am, but if you move those any closer, I'm going to be talking an octave higher,' and she burst out laughing," he continued.
Mike believes this was a "turning point" and made him realise he "didn't need to worry about what I said to her and the more normal, the better". Queen Elizabeth's sense of humour shone through in this potentially awkward situation and from then on, he felt comfortable enough to ask her questions like who her favourite Prime Minister was.
Having the Queen as your grandmother-in-law would naturally take some getting used to anyway and Mike has previously admitted he found protocols tricky initially.
"You do get used to it over time, but the trickiest part is the beginning when everything is new. All the protocols, they're a little daunting," he said, as per The Telegraph. "I stayed quiet for a long time, it is hard to pick what to talk about. The first time you sit next to the Queen at a dinner table, it is a nerve-racking experience."
He and Zara Tindall married in Scotland in July 2011 and even after becoming a married-in member of the Royal Family he still addressed the Queen as Ma'am or Your Majesty, whilst Zara apparently just called her Granny.
The pair were very close and shared a passion for equestrianism. Zara's silver medal in the London 2012 Olympics was celebrated in such a sweet way by her grandmother, who was reportedly too anxious to watch her compete in the eventing live.
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Former royal protection officer Richard Griffin told Sky News in 2022 that Queen Elizabeth suggested they go out for a picnic at Balmoral because she was "just so nervous". Later he radioed in and found out Zara was an Olympic silver medal winner - much to her granny's delight.
"I remember the Queen just grabbed me and we were dancing around in circles on this hill in Scotland,' Griffin said. "That's a memory that will stay with me for evermore."
