Zara Tindall has opened up about the bittersweet experience of watching her own personality traits emerge in her three children.
The daughter of Princess Anne reflected on how she views herself differently since becoming a mother, noting that her husband Mike’s personality traits are also evident in their children, Mia, 11, Lena, seven, and Lucas, four.
The 44-year-old royal admitted: “My personality is coming out in the kids, and there are some parts that you love and some that you don’t like.”
Speaking candidly about parenthood, she acknowledged that “every day there is a different dilemma or problem”, whilst describing family life as “incredible.”
Zara Tindall opens up about seeing her own flaws in her children in heartbreaking admission.
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Zara emphasised the importance of passing on core values to her children, stating: “You hopefully instil in them the values that you hold and from both of us, what we have learned from our careers and our hard work, dedication, motivations, lessons and respect.”
She acknowledged the challenges of modern parenting, continuing to tell Bella Magazine: “It is so easy to be distracted from that kind of thing, so we try and work every day to make sure they get the same values that we had.”
The Olympic equestrian described family life as never having “a dull moment” as she and Mike navigate the daily complexities of raising their three children.
During the same interview, Zara shared an amusing revelation about how she first met her future husband at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Sydney.
Zara Tindall and Mike Tindall have three children – Mia, Lena and Lucas.
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“I was out with some mates, we went out to watch the Rugby World Cup,” she recalled, explaining that she was “young enough to run away from life” at the time.
The encounter began when she went for “an all-day lunch with some girlfriends” around Sydney Harbour, where her intoxicated friends spotted the England rugby team’s hotel.
After walking past a restaurant and seeing Austin Healey, her friends “dropped my name and told him where they were going to be.”
Healey subsequently brought Mike Tindall and Martyn Corrigan to meet the group, but Zara’s first impression was underwhelming.
Lucas Tindall celebrated his fourth birthday earlier this year (March 21, 2025).
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“I thought Mikey was a bit boring, actually,” she confessed, recalling how he confidently told her “he wanted to call me after the final” despite England not yet reaching the semi-finals.
She revealed she was “actually hanging out with some of the All Blacks” whilst Mike persistently messaged her to “come for a drink.”
The story concluded with an awkward encounter at 8am when she entered a bar to find Mike “walking out with this girl,” though he maintains “to this day” that he “only went and raided her fridge.”