Mike Tindall Says He Has 'Loads of Regrets' After Grandmother-in-Law Queen Elizabeth's Death

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Anwar Hussein Collection/ROTA/WireImage

Mike Tindallis opening up about his time withQueen Elizabeth.

In a special segment on the late Queen, released in addition to the first episode of the third season of the sports show, Mike agreed when co-host Alex Payne asked if he realized how fortunate he was to spend time with her.

“I do. But I also have loads of regrets about not asking her so many more things,” Mike said, recalling “having nervousness when you get that lucky seat of being sat next to her.”

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The retired athlete knew the Queen personally for years, having marriedPrincess Anne’s daughter in 2011. The couple share three children — Mia, 8, Lena, 4, and Lucas, 1 — andbrought their eldestalong to the committal service for the Queen at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Sept. 19.

“What would you ask her now if you could?” Payne asked.

“Just going back through history and everything she’s possibly seen — 15 prime ministers, I don’t know how many presidents. To go through everything,” Mike reflected. Alluding to the incredible pressure of the royal role, which the Queen performed dutifully for 70 years, he added, “When she’s meeting dictators, she has to stay neutral, she has to perform her duty.”

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“Without thinking about it. I was just following behind my wife, saw her curtsy and fortunately didn’t [curtsy],” he said of the respectful gesture forKing Charles III, who now reigns as sovereign. “It turned into a lower bow. I might have looked like I stubbed my toe on something.”

Mike was at his equestrian wife’s side for theceremonial eventspreceding Queen’s funeral, and said it was “amazing” to see the royal family “come so close together overnight.”

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“You never predict it, but you’re never ready for when it does,” Mike said.

“I’m not even a direct family member… but watching what my wife, what Zara had to go through, obviously she loved the Queen beyond everything else,” he continued. “Their connection with horses, the same with the Princess Royal, they had a real sort of bond around that.”

source: people.com