Princess Anne’s surprising request to Mike Tindall before his wedding to Zara

When it comes to wedding planning, it’s not uncommon for the whole family to chime in with ideas to make the big day memorable. But one suggestion from Princess Anne to her future son-in-law, Mike Tindall, might have hit a little too close to home.

Before Mike married her daughter Zara Phillips (now Tindall), Princess Anne reportedly had just one concern about the upcoming nuptials — Mike’s nose.

Mike, a former rugby pro, had broken his nose for the first time at just five years old when his seatbelt came loose on a dodgem car and he headbutted the steering wheel. Over his 12-year rugby career, he broke it at least eight more times.

So, Princess Anne made a rather candid suggestion: would he consider getting a nose job before the big day? She even offered to foot the bill.

“Princess Anne asked me if I’d have the surgery,” he told Sky One sports quiz A League of Their Own in 2011.

He politely declined. With the Rugby World Cup looming, it was highly likely he’d end up breaking it again. But he later defended the suggestion, telling Radio Times the same year that it was all in good fun.

“It was a light-hearted, jokey comment,” he explained.

“It wasn’t a big deal, and look at my nose – can you blame her?”

Eventually, Mike did have surgery to fix his nose, not for vanity but because of breathing issues. Still, the story didn’t end there.

Years later, he got his own playful revenge on his royal mother-in-law — on the rugby pitch, no less.

He recently shared the humorous story about how he managed to draw the ire of Princess Anne during a high-stakes rugby match between Scotland and England.

Known for her unwavering support of the Scottish rugby team, given her role as patron of the Scottish Rugby Union since 1986—Princess Anne was already less than pleased when Mike’s England squad triumphed over her beloved Scots.

Making matters worse was the fact that Anne had to present the trophy to the winning team, something Mike couldn’t help but have some fun with.

“Most fellas want to get something over on their mother-in-law. It’s quite niche if you’re the captain of the England team and you play Scotland at Twickenham and, when you win, you’re receiving the trophy from your mother-in-law,” he told Closer magazine.

“I don’t like the majority of the RFU (Rugby Football Union), but I shook every one of their hands and I kept her waiting.”

Princess Anne, never one to suffer fools lightly, didn’t take too kindly to his antics.

“She was like, ‘move on, Michael’. I was like, ‘debrief over lunch tomorrow?’ And she said, ‘move on, Michael’,” he recalled.