Mike Tindall Shares Jokes About Prince Harry and the Royal Family at Hay Festival
At the Hay Festival, Mike Tindall, a former England rugby star and husband of Zara Phillips, shared some lighthearted jokes about Prince Harry and other members of the royal family. The 47-year-old, who is married to the cousin of the Duke of Sussex, joked about how he remembers Harry being more fun around 15 years ago.
During his appearance at the book and arts festival in Powys, Tindall made a few playful remarks that hinted at past events involving the royal family. He specifically mentioned Prince Harry, suggesting that the latter may have caused some embarrassment during his wedding to Zara in 2011, which took place five years before Harry met Meghan Markle.
Tindall also cracked a joke about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his bedroom at Buckingham Palace. While discussing the topic with James Haskell and Alex Payne, his co-hosts on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast, he admitted he was surprised that Haskell had not disgraced himself during the wedding breakfast and reception.
‘A lot of other people managed that way better than you – [like] Harry, when he was fun,’ Tindall joked.
Later, Tindall made a humorous comment about the former Duke of York. Despite initially saying he would avoid the subject, he joked about Andrew’s bedroom at the palace. At the time, it had just been revealed that police were expanding their investigation into the disgraced royal to include potential sexual offences.
Payne joked that his friend has ‘got his own bedroom at Buckingham Palace’. Tindall replied with laughter: ‘Opposite end to Andrew, though.’ He then added a joke about his repeatedly-broken nose from rugby: ‘Taxpayers’ money fixed it. It’s got the royal warrant if you look inside it.’
Mike, Zara, and Harry were once very close, with Harry even being asked to be godfather to their second daughter, Lena. However, their relationship has cooled since the events of Megxit. In 2022, during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Mike was overheard using a one-word expletive to describe Harry. It was reported that he called him a ‘b***end’ at a Buckingham Palace party and was critical of the way Harry spoke to a member of staff.
Just 24 hours earlier, Zara had acted as a ‘buffer’ between Prince Harry and Mike Tindall at an ‘awkward’ Thanksgiving service for the Queen. Mike appeared to give the Sussexes the cold shoulder on the steps of the church, where Meghan and Harry were also booed by some in the crowd. Tindall looked stone-faced and avoided the royal couple as they exited St Paul’s Cathedral. He did not join them in their conversation with his wife, Zara, before they left.
Peter Phillips also seemed awkward as he watched the scene unfold.
Tindall later made pointed remarks about an ‘outstanding’ secret lunch during the celebrations, which Harry and Meghan didn’t attend. He claimed it was the best moment of the week. Mr Tindall said at the time: ‘It was outstanding, to be fair. It was just great to be a part of’, adding: ‘We had a good cousins’ lunch on the Thursday. That was a highlight.’
Speaking at the Hay Festival, Tindall revealed that he and his podcast mates are looking to make a documentary about their running of Richmond Rugby Club. The project would be in the style of Ryan Reynolds’s series about Wrexham or Clarkson’s Farm.
Payne said: ‘We’ve got some amazing ideas – Amazon Prime are interested – if we can get it going. The Rolling Stones used to practise when they were 16 years old in the Richmond clubhouse, and one of my ambitions is to get Mick Jagger back, because he lives in Richmond, to do a big gig at Richmond Athletic Ground, raise money and get the club back on the map. Tin[dall]’s obviously got good connections. We could have Catherine meeting the team, the Princess of Wales. These are all massive pipe dreams.’
