Mike Tindall

Mike Tindall (born October 18th 1978) is the current boyfriend of Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Phillips. Mike is a professional rugby union footballer, who currently plays for Gloucester and England.

The pair met in November 2003 in Sydney, Australia, following England’s triumph over Australia in the Rugby World Cup. Initially the pair claimed that they were just friends, but it became obvious in early 2004 that the pair was dating, and a few months later, Mike moved into a cottage with Zara on her mother’s Gatcombe Park Estate.

Mike has been credited with ‘taming’ Zara who was previously known as a bit of a royal wild-child. As a professional sportsperson, he has encouraged Zara to take her sporting ability seriously, and she has subsequently had great success in Equestrian Eventing.

In February 2007, it was rumoured that Zara had become secretly engaged to Mike. An official announcement from the Palace was expected to be made in August 2007, although Zara has previously said that she doesn’t intend to marry until after the 2008 Olympics.

April 2007 Update: From an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper;

“Are we getting married?” she asks. “No. Not yet. I haven’t been asked. And I’m not going to be announcing it in August or whatever it was everyone was saying a few weeks ago. Every time something goes in the papers, I get texts from all my friends asking ‘Are you?’ and I’m like, ‘Sorry, no!’”

May 2007 Update: A friend of the Phillips family spoke to the Mail on Sunday paper;

The report claims that, after consultation with her father, Zara has no plans to wed before the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“She is focusing all her efforts on bringing home the gold medal. As far as her father is concerned, her career is the most important thing.”