Zara Tindall opens up about married life

Zara and Mike Tindall

The Queen's eldest granddaughter, Zara Tindall, has shared open and honest conversations about her marriage to former England Rugby star Mike Tindall and life in the public eye as a member of the British royal family. In an interview with the website for the Daily Express at the Burghley Horse Trials, the Princess Royal’s daughter was relaxed and “surprisingly open” about life behind the royal façade.

Asked how she balances the many varied areas of her life – motherhood, marriage, royal engagements and her riding career amongst other focuses – Zara said: “I don’t know! Mike’s very good, both of us work it out so that we are in the right place at the right time.

“If I’m doing something then he comes too or vice versa and Mia’s around as well or that kind of thing. Also I’ve got less horses now than I used to so it’s a little bit easier to fit everything in, with charity stuff as well.”

Though she has managed to largely dodge life in the limelight, Zara takes it all in stride when at royal events and faced with royal watchers, her natural warmth and friendly demeanour obvious.  An excited group of young fans requested autographs at the Hose Trials and Mrs Tindall was happy to spend several moments with the group answering their questions and signing away.

Though many would argue she has the perfect temperament for life as a working royal Zara has lived a quieter life than her cousins as her mother famously refused to accept a Princess title for her daughter. As such, Zara confirmed that there aren’t any royal expectations of her and she doesn’t “do anything in that respect at all”. This has allowed her to pursue her passions and undertake a career which has seen her take home an Olympic medal amongst many other accolades.

Of her decision to pursue her sporting career Zara said:  “It was probably when I left school I thought I would just see if I was actually any good, or good enough to get to the top.” She added: “You definitely need a good horse though if you’re going to get anywhere in this sport, and I was very lucky, I got Toytown when I was about 19 so we came up through the levels together. So I owe everything to him really.”

When asked if her parents had any influence on her career choice Zara made clear that: “It was our decision what we were going to do I guess. They never pushed us to do it, but if we wanted to do it we had to do it properly.” It’s likely because of this that Zara takes the same attitude with her daughter Mia, saying: “it’s very much in our family, but again, if she wants to do something else then that’s fine”.