Mike and Zara Tindall’s oldest daughter Mia, 12, has started to attend some high-profile events alongside her parents – which could reveal how she plans to follow in their footsteps
Her parents Mike and Zara Tindall, are often credited with bringing a touch of informal fun to royal events – and it seems their oldest daughter Mia, may well be following in their footsteps.
The 12-year-old is often at some of the highest-profile Royal Family gatherings – whether it’s sharing a giggle with Princess Charlotte or wearing a matching outfit to her mum, Zara. And it might not be the only thing that Mia shares with her mum – as it appears she may too have inherited her love of horse racing.
With Zara and Mike regulars at many of the major horse racing festivals in the UK – earlier this month they brought their oldest daughter to Aintree for Ladies Day at the Grand National Festival.
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The youngster looked grown up in a blue pin-stripe suit and was snapped cheering on the horses from the royal box. And royal expert Jennie Bond exclusively tells the Mirror, the snaps said a lot about Mia’s relationship with her parents.
The former BBC royal correspondent says: “Mia looks like a confident, happy young girl – a joy to see. Rather like George, she seems to have shot up and looks as if she might overtake her mum before too long.
“She obviously has a great relationship with her parents, they clearly enjoyed sharing the thrills of the racing at Aintree: laughing, gasping, cheering and applauding together.”
Mia is the first child of Zara and former England international rugby player Mike, and is the late Queen’s fourth great-grandchild – after being welcomed into the world in January 2014.
She currently lives with her parents and her younger siblings, Lena, seven, and four-year-old Lucas, on her granny Princess Anne’s Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire. With her mum, Zara not having a royal title, it means Mia and her siblings don’t have them either. It dates back to when Anne, the only daughter of the late Queen , gave birth to her first child, her son Peter Phillips, back in 1977.
At the time, she decided that he would not receive HRH status or a royal title, and the same went for Zara when she was born several years later in 1981. And because she did not receive a title, this has also extended to Mia, Lena and Lucas, as well as Peter’s daughters Savannah, 13, and Isla, 11.
But the Tindalls are still very much at the heart of Royal Family events. They often join Zara’s uncle King Charles for the likes of royal Christmas at Sandringham, where the younger Tindalls always seem to buddy up with the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, with Mia once holding hands to church with Prince Louis.
And Jennie added: “I think the Tindalls run a very similar household to the Waleses: allowing the children a pretty free rein, with lots of noise and laughter along the way. With their rugby-playing dad, I’m sure there’s been a lot of rough and tumble, and plenty of fun.”
The family are also often snapped at horse trial events around the country, where they turn out to cheer their mum alongside their proud dad – with Mia sometimes taking centre stage. One of the youngster’s most memorable moments came 10 years ago, when the youngest members of the Royal Family gathered to celebrate the late Queen’s 90th birthday.
They came together for a photoshoot with the monarch by celebrated photographer Annie Leibovitz with her great-grandchildren and youngest grandchildren, where Mia memorably held the Queen’s black Launer handbag. But rather than the Queen telling her to put it back, the monarch allowed the then two-year-old to keep hold of it.
Dad Mike previously said: “It just happened at the right time. She was being a bit naughty. The Queen got it quite right when she told her ‘just hold the handbag now’ and she did that. It ended up being a great photo of her. She’s got quite a little personality on her, and we encourage that.” After Mia was born and before Mike and Zara welcomed their younger children, Zara suffered two devastating miscarriages.
Podcast host Mike once remarked about his daughter: “The saving grace for us has been Mia, our daughter … However down we feel, she will come running up in our faces. When I was playing, I hardly saw her; now we can see her grow up.”
Mike and Zara have also spoken out about their daughter’s love of sport – hardly surprising with them both being professionals at the top of their games in their respective fields.
The couple has also carved out unique roles of having busy careers both on and off the sports field – but still attending many high-profile Royal Family events. Zara is continuing with her illustrious equestrian career and earning sponsorship deals with brands such as Rolex.
Mike, meanwhile, has retired from rugby but has become something of a media personality, co-hosting a rugby podcast, having a hilarious Instagram account – and even doing a stint in the jungle on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, finishing in a respectable fourth place.
Of course, in the immediate future, Mia will be finishing her school life before deciding on what career path she would like to take in the future.
And Jennie said: “Who knows what a 12-year-old is going to do with her life? If she’s anything like her mother, her grandmother and indeed her great-grandmother, horses could certainly play quite a big role. Could she continue the family tradition of riding in the Olympics for her country? Time will tell.”
However, now with Charles’ slimmed-down monarchy looking slimmer than ever, many have suggested that Zara and Mike could be the perfect couple to draft in to help out with royal duties.
In fact, in recent years, William has called on the couple as well as his other cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, to help out at Buckingham Palace garden parties that he has hosted.
Recent reports have suggested that when the time comes, and William takes the throne, he could hand Zara, and in turn Mike, an important role running all royal horse racing matters – something that he has less of an interest in compared to his father, the King.
So could Mia also help out with this? Jennie is not too sure. She explained: “There will be so many demands on William’s time when he is King that I think it’s a brilliant idea – if the reports are to be believed – that he might hand over racing matters to Zara.
“Like her mother, she lives and breathes horses; she’s also extremely glamorous and well-liked, and it would be a perfect fit. As the years go by, I think they’ll be a highly valued support for William when the time comes for him to be King.They are both very close to William, and if he calls on them again, as he did at a garden party last year, they will definitely agree.
“However, when it comes to Mia, I very much doubt that she will want to pursue a role as a working royal. Her parents have shown her how to be a valued and close member of the family without taking on an official role. I don’t think any of them want to lose the freedom that their life choice has given them.”
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