It was made abundantly clear when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals that there’s no such thing as half-in, half-out of the Royal Family when you’re a working member. Non-working royals like Zara Tindall have to tread a different path from the beginning and she forged an equestrian career and is still included in royal occasions.
She and her husband Mike took Australia by storm when they returned once again this month for the Magic Millions Carnival and woman&home magazine’s royal correspondent Emily Andrews believes the couple have nailed the "royal balancing act".
Writing in our March issue, which is on sale now, she noted that the Tindalls "honour the monarchy, and maintain close bonds with the likes of William and Kate, all while raising thousands for charity" and "paying their own way".
Because of who they are in the sporting world, Emily believes that Zara and Mike are able to "enjoy successful media and money-making opportunities". However, "their glamour, modernity and, crucially, loyalty to their royal relations bestow a positive glow back on to the Firm".
There’s much that could have been said by Zara and Mike over the past few years as their royal relatives regularly made the news. Perhaps the closest the Olympic silver medallist has come to commenting on any drama within the Royal Family is when she spoke of "struggles" at the London Sporting Club lunch last year.
"It is very hard to see from the outside but, 100%, it is a family that is still going through the same struggles other people do. Whether they are relationships, obviously it is very easy to see every day," she is understood to have said.
Her remarks came just a few days after her cousin Prince Harry famously told the BBC in an interview, "There have been so many disagreements between myself and some of my family", before going on to say he would "love" a reconciliation and there’s "no point continuing to fight".
A year earlier, both Zara’s uncle King Charles and her cousin-in-law the Princess of Wales had also made their respective cancer diagnoses public. The Royal Family have been through a lot and the Tindalls’ "loyalty" and down-to-earth qualities have been nothing but a credit.
Despite not being a working royal herself, Princess Anne’s daughter stepped up to support Prince William at a royal garden party in May 2024 and she’s been a fixture at Christmases at Sandringham and Easters as Windsor.
Outside of royal occasions, Zara and Mike tend to focus on attending sporting events which they have genuine passions for. They attract the royal buzz without making major waves or being bound by protocol in the same way, which is surely quite freeing. Not having titles of their own might also help when it comes to their "balancing act" as they’re often seen as individuals first, and royals after.
Mike has previously said he would turn down a title if offered one and Princess Anne did this on Zara and her brother Peter’s behalf from the start. Not that either of them mind!
"I think it made us fight harder," Zara said in the 2020 documentary, Anne: The Princess Royal at 70. "To try and be as successful as we could be. So I definitely, you know, we’re very grateful to not [have] a title anyway."
Read Emily Andrews’ full article in woman&home’s March issue, on sale now.
