Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall makes surprising admission on motherhood

Just like her mother, Princess Anne, and her grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, Zara Tindall is a passionate equestrian. Her mother made history as the first member of the British royal family to compete in the Olympic Games, and Zara went a step further — becoming the first royal to win an Olympic medal.

It’s clear the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree when it comes to the Windsor women. But this shared competitive spirit also raises some interesting parenting challenges for 44-year-old Zara and her husband of 13 years, former rugby star Mike Tindall.

Speaking to Bella magazine, Zara admitted that her three children — Mia 11, Lena, and Lucas are already showing many of her personality traits.

“My personality is coming out in the kids, and there are some parts that you love and some that you don’t like,” she told the publication.

“You hopefully instill in them the values that you hold and from both of us (herself and Mike), what we have learned from our careers and our hard work, dedication, motivations, lessons and respect.”

While the down-to-earth royal described her family life as “incredible”, she admitted that parenthood was challenging, saying that “every day there is a different dilemma or problem.”

However, both Mike and Zara make the children their main priority, which reflects their own upbringing and close relationship with family members.

It’s something Mike has touched on before in his book, The Good, the Bad & the Rugby – Unleashed, a companion piece to his podcast of the same name.

In the book, the former rugby star shared insights into the special relationship between his wife and her grandmother and even hinted at the grief his wife felt after the Queen’s passing.

“Watching what Zara had to go through, obviously she loved the Queen beyond everything else,” he said.

“Their connection with horses, they had a real bond around that. It’s like the world has lost its grandmother in some way.”

For Tindall, the Queen’s passing also represented a lost opportunity to learn from someone at the centre of so many historical moments.

“I also have loads of regrets about not asking her so many more things… Having nervousness when you sit there, get that lucky seat of being sat next to her,” Tindall said.