has revealed his true feelings of what marrying into the is really like.
The former England international rugby player tied the knot with , the daughter of and niece of , back in 2011. The couple has three children together and both Mike and Zara are firm fixtures at royal events, being invited to the likes of royal at Sandringham and the Coronation last year. Now retired from rugby, Mike has appeared on ITV's ... Get Me Out Of Here, and hosts a podcast called The Good, The Bad and The Rugby with James Haskell and Alex Payne.
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The trio are set to release a book based on their podcast later this month, with snippets from it being published in And it seems in the book, Mike recalled what it was really like marrying into the Firm, and the experience he has had. He writes: "Believe it or not, marrying into the was pretty easy for me. They were always nice to me, and I was always nice to them. Simple really."
This description is in direct contrast to , who has previously spoken out about how hard she found becoming a royal when she married Zara's cousin in 2018. She railed against the Firm in her and Harry's controversial documentary, suggesting the Prince and weren't warm towards her.
However, it appears to be a different story for Mike, who is believed to be extremely close to William and Kate along with their children , Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. At the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee two years ago, Mike was seen playfully warning an excited Louis he had his eye on him.
And in an interview with The Telegraph, he also reveals his close bond with 11-year-old George - revealing how he is following in his dad William's footsteps when it comes to football. He says: "George loves his football. I've played numerous times in the garden with him. He's passionate about Aston Villa, too. Wherever he is, he'll sit down and watch that game."
In a previous interview with Australian Women's Weekly, Zara spoke about , and admitted that it can all get a little bit competitive at times. "Our kids play with their kids in this competition we have," Zara revealed, with her husband Mike then adding: "Competition done the right way is so healthy, I think. It drives people to get better; for people it drives you to train, it drives you to push as hard as you can. You need that."
Zara, who famously at the 2012 London Olympics, agreed, adding: "I think our families are fairly competitive." The couple also spoke about the fact their children can get worked up if they dont get their own way in games. " doesn't like losing at the moment," Mike said of their eldest. "[And] now is getting old enough to start pushing Mia because there's a bit of a gap."
It's no surprise that the Tindall children are so close to George, Charlotte and Louis. Mia is just six months younger than George, while Lena is the same age as Louis, born less than two months after the Prince. Charlotte is right in the middle of the two sisters.
Speaking previously to the Telegraph, Mike spoke of their bond: "Lena and obviously Louis are similar ages and Mia's sort of in between Charlotte and George, and then you've got Peter's [Phillips] children Savannah and Isla who are just a little bit older." He added: "James [Prince Edward and Sophie's son] is, well, not exactly the ring leader, but he's the oldest. So, yeah, it's going to be a good little group."
