'Proper man' Mike Tindall cuts down (a tad) on his boozing
Lovingly inspecting his head for sunburn and nuzzling into his huge suited shoulder before planting a kiss on his cheek, Zara Tindall was so boundlessly, puppyishly enthusiastic in her canoodling with her husband, Mike, at Wimbledon this week that they rather resembled a pair of lovestruck newlyweds.
They're not, of course â€" the sixth anniversary of their marriage occurs at the end of this month and the couple have known each other for 14 years.
It's fair to say that reaching such a landmark has, at times, appeared unlikely. Indeed, their union has survived tests that would surely have put paid to other relationships, or at least placed them under considerable strain.
How many other internationally successful macho men would gracefully submit t o a marriage where their wife clearly out-earned them by a significant margin?
Zara Tindall was so boundlessly, puppyishly enthusiastic in her canoodling with her husband, Mike, at Wimbledon this week, pictured, that they rather resembled a pair of lovestruck newlyweds
How many high-profile couples could tolerate a triple blow of tragedy such as the Tindalls have been dealt, with Mike's father sinking into the grip of Parkinson's disease, Zara's beloved horse Toytown being put down last month after over two decades of service and â€" of course â€" their much longed-for second pregnancy ending in miscarriage in December?
Add all this to Mike's discomfort with some aspects of how the royals raise their children (he said in a recent interview he would never permit daughter, Mia, three, to go to boarding school).
Not to mention the very public humiliation of him being pictured with his face nestled in a gorgeous blonde's breasts in the early days of his marriage to Zara, and the raucous drinking habits of both husband and wife, and you can see why some worried the union would never last.
But instead of fracturing under such pressures, as so many of the Royals have before them, the Tindalls' marriage is thriving.
This has been helped by Mike, 38, utterly winning over his in-laws. Not only is his wife completely enamoured of him, but so, too, are the Queen, Prince Philip, Zara's mother Princess Anne, and Princes William and Harry.
The Queen, according to one source, thinks Mike is 'a proper man'. No doubt she sees a partnership characterised by those rarest of Royal traits: stability, respect, a zinging attraction and genuine affection.
Mike had a very public humiliation when he was pictured with his face nestled in a gorgeous blonde's breasts in the early days of his marriage to Zara
Make no mistake, though â€" the partying habits of Zara and Mike did bring their marriage perilously close to the edge. 'They both used to drink ferociously,' says once source. Those days, however, are largely finished for two reasons.
First and most significant is their little blonde poppet, Mia, born in January 2014.
'Both Zara and Mike take parenthood very seriously,' says a source.
All say that Mike has evolved into a devoted husband and a brilliant father.
The second reason? Mike hasn't forgotten the scandal â€" and the ear-bashing from Zara â€" which ensued just six weeks after their wedding when his rugby tour of New Zealand en ded in disgrace.
It's well known that Mike, whose nickname is 'Tins', can drink most men under the table. But the months before his 2011 wedding and the rugby tour which followed straight after was a period of breath-taking consumption.
With several drink-driving convictions under his belt, his stag night in Florida resembled the movie The Hangover, about a wild bachelor party in Las Vegas.
The bar bill in one nightclub for Mike and ten friends for a marathon five-hour session was £12,000. They drank 1,500 units of champagne, tequila and vodka, and Mike even tanked a whole carafe of red wine 'down in one'.
For all that, it's said that 'at one stage, Zara used to try to outdrink him'. Little wonder, then, that, as one source puts it, their wedding which took place on July 30, 2011 â€" weeks after William and Kate's â€" made that Royal Wedding look like 'a tea dance'.
After a night of heavy drinking on the decommissioned Royal Yacht Britannia, 'many were not well on the big day', says one contact. Mike's best man, one-time Biarritz rugby player Iain Balshaw, arrived at the service with a black eye, having allegedly fallen off his moped.
The reception was probably the only time Holyroodhouse â€" the Queen's official residence in Scotland, which hosted the reception â€" had boasted a vodka fountain.
The sixth anniversary of the marriage of Mike and Zara Tindall occurs at the end of this month and the couple have known each other for 14 years. The couple are pictured on their wedding day in Edinburgh, Scotland, in July 2011
Six weeks later, Mike, captain of the English rugby team, celebrated beating Argentina with a dwarf-throwing contest in a New Zealand bar and was caught on CCTV in a clinch with that blonde.
He was fined £15,000 by the rugby authorities and admitted misleading his manager.
His new wife Zara â€" who 'takes no nonsense' â€" shot out to New Zealand and 'went ballistic'.
Many thought there was no way any fledgling marriage could survive such early, and public, humiliation. But a source who knows them both says quite the reverse happened. The cataclysmic drinking they were both engaged in and the scandal in New Zealand became a turning point.
'It was a massive shock to the relationship, but strangely, it helped clear the air as they both have volatile, big personalities.
'It hit home to Mike what he stood to lose and what he had in a woman like Zara.'
She, too, has grown up, 'turning away from rebellion and now channels her energies into her family and her equestrian pursuits'.
And so, today, they are, as one source puts it, 'rock solid . . . probably the most down-to-earth and happily married Royals'.
In part, their stability is also because they're desperate to be seen as anything but regal. One in their circle tells a story of Zara, 36, at a polo night where she was asked to draw the prize raffle, much to her mortification because 'she wants to be treated as 'normal'. She really doesn't have a single strea k of grandeur to her. Not to Mike, not to anyone.'
It's this self-awareness of Zara's which has also helped keep her romance with Mike firmly in bloom. She might earn the main share of the family finances â€" but it's clear neither see it that way.
'Their marriage is one of equals because she never undermines Mike's masculinity or lords it over him because she is royal. That really matters to her,' says one contact.
She and Mike are equals, heart, soul and bank balance. She has a hugely lucrative contract with Land Rover as well as wristwatch and equestrian clothing deals. She's a BBC commentator, too.
Zara Tindall is pictured playing with her daughter Mia Tindall at the Maserati Royal Charity Polo Trophy in Gloucestershire last month
It's less clear how much Mike makes. Now he's retired from rugby, public speaking and ambassador roles for brands make up his bread and butter, with occasional appearances on reality TV shows such as The Jump or Bear Grylls' Mission Survive.
The couple's happy partnership is most evident with Mia. Mike describes himself as a hands-on father and, indeed, has to be, because Zara is still competing.
As indisputably a massive bond between her parents, Mia is 'hilarious and naughty', says a source in the equestrian world.
'She's properly wilful like her mother and grandmother. Unafraid of anything, let alone with four legs, Mia is starting to enjoy riding on her Shetland pony and has ta ken over the family boxer, Spey, as her own â€" people have to ask her if he can be stroked.
'Mike and Zara encourage her to be challenging and fun and so she is high-spirited and has boundless energy. In the photograph taken last year by Annie Leibovitz to mark the Queen's 90th birthday, Mia was seen holding the monarch's handbag â€" it was all her idea to pick it up and she refused to be parted from it, much to the amusement of Lady Louise Wessex. [That pose] was the longest Mia has ever been still for.'
Indeed, you'll often find Mike throwing her about like a rugby ball while she yells for more.
Little wonder that Prince George adores his cousin and big burly Tindall â€" but playdates at the Cambridges' Anmer Hall residence or Zara's Gloucestershire home are, says a contact, 'so noisy and whirlwindy they have to be kept to a minimum.
Both children lo ve rough and tumble, and end up filthy and exhausted, generally with Zara's brother Peter Phillips's daughter Savannah, six, joining in too.
'Food is eaten on the hoof. They love games, particularly ball games, and anything involving toy trains, dogs and ponies.
'There is lots of shrieking.' Princess Anne is another doting figure. Zara and Mike live in a house on her Gatcombe Park estate.
'Far enough away to have their own lives; close enough for active grandparent support. It's an idyllic family set-up.
As indisputably a massive bond between her parents, Mia is 'hilarious and naughty', says a source in the equestrian world. She is pictured with her father Mike
Unsurprisingly, given this blissful existence, it was devastating when, after announcing a second pregnancy in November last year, Zara had a miscarriage in December.
'Zara was distraught and the family closed ranks,' says a contact. 'It was, and still is, a tough time for the couple, but it brought them even closer.'
When Mike reflected on the miscarriage, he said: 'We were very lucky to have Mia in terms of what we've been through.
'When you've got a two-year-old who is absolute carnage and wants to be playing and wants to be enjoying herself, I think that pulls you through.'
This certainly hasn't been the only shadow, eith er. Mike's father Phil, a rugby player-turned-banker at Barclays, has been suffering from Parkinson's for the past 14 years; another reason why the 'lad' Zara married has had to grow up.
Mike recently described how Phil, 69, who lives near Wakefield, 'doesn't really shake, but when he goes â€" they call it going off â€" he can't stand, he can't lift his arm, he'll just be stuck there.
'Muscle wastage is a big issue, so your strength goes. That's the side he really struggles with [because] he's a smart guy and his brain still pretty much functions to its capacity.'
Thankfully, as well as Zara, Mike has a supportive family to help. His parents are still together. Mother Linda, a one-time social worker, is said to be 'a very capable and caring woman'.
His brother Ian is also a 'shoulder to lean on'.
Mike has devoted his ene rgies to raising money for the Cure Parkinson's Trust, and in May this year had his fifth fundraising celebrity golf day at The Belfry.
Afterwards, there was a 'booze-filled' dinner (reformed, yes, but there is still nothing teetotal about the Tindalls) at which Mike sang Me And Mrs Jones to entertain the guests, leaving his wife in fits of giggles.
Says one who was there: 'He also shocked some in the audience by making a very intimate joke about Zara's skills in the bedroom, adding 'love you baby', and Zara danced with Strictly Come Dancing's Anton du Beke.'
They've needed such cheer. For Zara 'wept buckets' again last month when Toytown, the horse she had grown up with, was put down after 25 years.
Nicknamed Noddy or Ginger, he had retired and become a pet, after winning individual gold and team silver at the European eventing championships with Zara.
Mike announced the news on Twitter, saying: 'So sad to say goodbye to the big man today, been a massive part of our lives giving us so many highs! RIP Toytown,' he tweeted.
Note the 'our lives' in Mike's message. That, more than anything, is the secret to their happiness.
Says a source: 'Their relationship has blossomed because they are a match for one another. They have huge respect for one another and genuinely love each other as well.
'She's tough and he's a softy, but they are mutually supportive of one another in a crisis. He has outgrown his bad behaviour and is known for being terribly kind and thoughtful.'
Happily for the Tindalls, after a few faults, it seems that together, they really are a championship.
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