Tragic Details About Zara Tindall's Life

The following article contains references to domestic violence.

Princess Anne's daughter Zara Tindall has been in the limelight from an incredibly young age. Over the years, the royal has made headlines for her party-girl persona and rebellious antics (not to mention the inappropriate outfits Zara Tindall has been caught wearing). Titleless at her mother's behest and not a working member of the royal family, Tindall has always been something of a maverick. But the girl who once shocked her mom by getting a tongue piercing as a teenager has matured considerably over the years. She is now a lauded equestrian and one half of a sporting power couple thanks to her marriage to former rugby player Mike Tindall. 

"People think that it has all been given to me on a plate, when it definitely hasn't," she once told The Guardian of her equestrianism. Indeed, getting to her esteemed public position has not been without hardship. From a young age, Tindall has faced considerable tragedy. But as evidenced by her chosen profession, which is renowned for being one of the most dangerous and casualty-prone sports, Tindall is nothing if not a survivor.

In 1999, a teenaged Zara Tindall began dating jockey Richard Johnson. Their relationship was highly tumultuous and friends feared that Johnson was a bad influence on Tindall. In 2001, Johnson reportedly became enraged after Tindall was supposedly flirting with another man and the two had a major fight in public. Johnson allegedly pulled Tindall out of a car and threw her to the ground, leaving her in tears. "He was swinging at her, she was crying hysterically and tears were running down her face," chauffeur Jeremy Hill told the Daily Mail. "I think she was crying with the shock — it was out of the blue." Hill had to intervene to get Johnson off Tindall, throwing him on the bonnet of his car.

Two years later, it was reported that the couple had reached an impasse and were on the verge of splitting up after a series of heated rows. "She is very unhappy," an insider told the Daily Mail. "She feels that with Richard racing comes first, second and third while she comes a poor fourth."

In August 2003, the couple called it quits and Johnson moved onto another woman just two weeks later. Johnson had also admitted that he never loved Tindall. "I've no idea what love's like — I have never been in love," he said, per Hello! "I admit I am not much of a romantic ... Being a champion jockey one day is what is paramount to me."

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

In 2000, Zara Tindall was injured in a car crash. The royal, who was 19 at the time, was driving down a hazardous country road when her Land Rover overturned and ended up in a ditch. The crash allegedly occurred following a fight between Tindall and her then-boyfriend, Richard Johnson. Thankfully, Tindall was unharmed. "She was driving on an unclassified road when the accident took place," a police spokesperson told the BBC. "Her Land Rover clipped a wall and landed upside down. She suffered minor facial injuries but did not require medical treatment."

Her car troubles continued decades later, however. In 2020, Tindall was banned from driving for six months and fined £666 (around $841) after being caught speeding in her Land Rover. "Because Mrs Tindall already has nine points on her license she was unable to accept a fixed penalty for this offense," said prosecutor Farley Turner, per the BBC. The incident was particularly controversial, as Tindall is a long-time brand ambassador for Land Rover. In a statement to the Daily Mail, Land Rover said that it condemned speeding, but wouldn't cease its partnership with the royal.

Having followed in the footsteps of her mother, the rebellious Princess Anne, Zara Tindall is a talented and highly decorated equestrian. But her beloved pursuit has not been without tragedy. In 2006, Tindall's close friend, Sherelle Duke, was killed while horse riding. She was just 28. Duke suffered catastrophic head injuries, including brain damage and a fractured skull, after her horse fell and landed on top of her during a competition.

Tindall was devastated by her friend's death. At the time, she was in Germany preparing for the Eventing World Championship, so she never got to say goodbye. She was also unable to go to Duke's funeral, with her brother, Peter Phillips, attending instead. When she won the championship a week later, she took the opportunity to honor Duke. "I went out today to do it for a friend of mine who died a week ago today and to try and get her a gold medal," she said, per the BBC. "I was just so relieved that I managed to give that to her, because we didn't manage to go over and say goodbye."

As a sweet tribute to her late friend, Tindall also rehomed Glenbuck, a horse previously ridden by Duke. "Sherelle's family have told Zara it's what she would have wanted," a source told Express. "Sherelle herself was training for the Olympics when she died. Zara was unbelievably touched to be asked to take on Glenbuck."

Just two years after losing her friend to horse riding-related injuries, Zara Tindall was involved in a horrific equestrian accident herself. In 2008, she was thrown off her horse, Tsunami II, during the Pau Horse Trials in France. She suffered a broken collarbone and had to take three months off work to heal.

Tsunami II had stumbled during an event the previous year, leaving both Tindall and her horse shaken but uninjured. This time, however, the mare didn't make it. Tsunami II had broken her neck after tripping and hitting the fence; and subsequently had to be put down. "It was a very ordinary accident, but it's not common to see such a terrible outcome," spokesperson Pascal Sayous told the Daily Mail. "In the 20 years that I've been doing this job, we've only had to put down two horses, including this one."

Tindall was devastated when she was told of the fate of her beloved horse. "[Tindall] was taken for professional medical treatment at a nearby hospital and is pretty drugged up with painkillers," a close friend told the Mail. "She is in quite a lot of pain and is very upset about the death of Tsunami, who was one of her favorites."

Though their union ultimately turned out to be a royal success story, Zara and Mike Tindall's relationship was once blighted by claims of infidelity. In 2011, Mike was caught kissing a woman at a bar in Queenstown, New Zealand. At the time, onlookers alleged that the pair went on to a second bar, Cowboys, together, but Mike fiercely denied the claims, with his team insisting that he went back to his hotel room alone. Sources told Express that Zara didn't believe claims that her husband would cheat on her.

However, CCTV footage from Cowboys eventually proved that Mike and the woman did in fact head to the second bar together. The bar's owner, Leo Molloy, hinted that the pair were getting super intimate. "Our position is that if it's not a crime, then we won't release the footage," Molloy told the Daily Mail. "Rooting [having sex] isn't a crime in New Zealand." 

Mike then confessed that he lied about not going to the bar with the woman, but did not elaborate on the nature of their interaction. "What might upset Zara about the Cowboys video is that he's surrounded by people who she probably knows and who she might have expected to step in and tell him to behave himself," a witness explained. "Instead, you can see that they act as if they know the woman and aren't at all surprised to see her and Tindall getting cozy with each other." 

Zara and Mike Tindall welcomed their first child, Mia, in 2014. Two years later, Zara was expecting the couple's second child, but she lost the baby. The Tindalls tried for another baby, but that pregnancy also ended in a miscarriage. Shortly after, Zara became pregnant again and gave birth to her second child, Lena, in 2018. Appearing on "BBC Breakfast" (via the Independent) months after her daughter's birth, Zara discussed the pain of suffering two miscarriages in the public eye. "I think that's the hardest thing in our situation, is that everyone knew," she said. "And very much when things like that happen, normally it's just your family and friends, but unfortunately everyone knew about it."

In an interview with The Times in 2018, Zara opened up about the miscarriages, revealing that she had to give birth the first time due to being too far along in her pregnancy. The second time, however, she miscarried early into the pregnancy. "You need to go through a period where you don't talk about it because it's too raw but, as with everything, time's a great healer," she said. She received many letters from people who had also experienced miscarriages, finding comfort in their shared experiences.

Zara Tindall enjoyed a close relationship with her grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. When she died in September 2022, the queen's granddaughter was heartbroken. Zara was spotted crying as she saw floral tributes that family and friends had left the queen in the days following her death. On his podcast, Mike Tindall discussed his wife's struggles in the aftermath of losing her beloved grandmother. "Watching what my wife, what Zara had to go through, in terms of obviously she loved the queen beyond everything else. You know, their connection with horses, the same with the princess royal, they had a real sort of bond around that," he said on an episode of "The Good, The Bad & The Rugby" that centered around the monarch's legacy.

The following year, Zara opened up to Women's Weekly about the profound loss, revealing that she came to further appreciate her grandmother's legacy as she got older. "When you've got someone who's a huge influence in your life [it leaves a hole] ... all of us are so lucky to have had her for so long," she reflected. "You always think when you're little your grandparents are ancient when they're not that old. When you get to be an adult, then they are old, so we were very lucky to have her that long ... It was a very precious time and we're hugely grateful for it."

Zara Tindall and her cousin Prince Harry once had an extremely close bond. In fact, it was Harry who played matchmaker following his cousin's split from Richard Johnson; the prince introduced Zara to her future husband Mike Tindall following England's Rugby World Cup victory in 2003. But over time, this sweet bond soured.

Speaking to Express, body language expert Judi James claimed that there was a marked shift in the warm rapport between Zara and Harry around 2022, when the cousins appeared at Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee celebrations. "While Harry and Meghan stand locked together as a duo here though, holding hands and performing some rather forced smiles, with Meghan standing slightly behind Harry's right arm as though in need of some form of protection, Zara's body language lacks her normal displays of tactile warmth," James said.

There have been rumors of a feud between Zara Tindall and Meghan Markle, as well as claims of potential rivalry between the Tindalls and Sussexes, so it's possible that Zara and Harry's camaraderie disintegrated following the latter's marriage to Meghan. By 2024, Zara and Harry's relationship appeared to have reached breaking point when Zara joined the rest of the firm in snubbing Harry's Invictus Games. "It's not something he will take an active role in moving forward," a source told Express regarding rumors that Mike was going to be made a patron of the Invictus Games.

In 2021, Zara and Mike Tindall welcomed their third child and first son, Lucas. While royal women typically give birth in the comfort of a hospital, Zara couldn't make it to the emergency room in time and ended up giving birth on her bathroom floor. On his "The Good, The Bad & The Rugby" podcast, Mike revealed that Zara was struggling to sleep the night beforehand and began suffering from severe contractions. "So, it was run into the gym, get a mat, get into the bathroom, get the mat on the floor, towels down, 'brace-brace-brace' ... She was a warrior," he said.

During his appearance on "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" (via the Mirror) in 2022, Mike recalled the difficult home birth in greater detail. "Lucas was rapid. Third one," he said. "As we got our stuff to go to hospital, she got out of the bath, she could barely stand, she was shaking. The midwife was like, 'She's not making the hospital.'" He said that Zara was in considerable pain as she gave birth, to the point of almost choking her husband during the ordeal. "You can't say anything can you? 'Can you let go, you're really hurting me?'" he added.

As with so many working mothers, Zara Tindall felt guilty when she went back to work after giving birth. Appearing on her husband, Mike Tindall's, show "Mike Drop" in 2023, she opened up about the physical and emotional toll that came with being a working mother. "I found it hard, you know, getting yourself back to it mentally," she said. "You feel guilty as a mother leaving your child to go and do something else ... I felt guilty all the time, even, like, gonna go and ride and I just thought that's just an aspect of my life now."

Having three kids has also led to Zara grappling with body insecurities. As a sportsperson, fitness is central to Zara's profession and she thus struggled with the inevitable changes that pregnancy made to her body. In the royal's case, she also found it difficult to settle back into equestrianism after giving birth. "It was hard getting your body back to, you know, when you've been riding for 30 years ... and then, like, your body being just completely not doing that and your muscles doing nothing and stretching and creating an amazing thing, but it's just completely different," she said on "Mike Drop."

In 2021, Zara Tindall's close friend, Trevor Hemmings, died aged 86. A horseracing businessman who owned many of the horses that Tindall rode during her equestrian victories, Hemmings was an influential figure in the royal's life.

During her appearance on "Mike Drop," Tindall paid tribute to her late friend. She recalled how Hemmings had bought her the horse that she rode to silver victory in the 2012 London Olympics. The horse, which Hemmings bought for £25,000 (around $31,900), was sweetly named Little Trev.

Accordingly, Zara spoke of the joy of seeing her pal's face in the stands as she and Little Trev shone at the Olympics. "But to see his face at the Olympics and to get that team medal was amazing," she said. "And to be able to, you know, give something back to him when he had supported me for so long was incredible. I'm going to get emotional." She broke down in tears as she spoke about her dear friend. "I think that sums you up," her husband, Mike Tindall, offered. "You always put your owners and your horses first, uh, sometimes to the detrimental of yourself."

Zara Tindall's mom Princess Anne has led a life filled with tragedy. In 2024, a year that was already rife with various royal hardships, Anne was hospitalized after sustaining head injuries and a concussion following an incident at her Gatcombe Park estate. The Telegraph reported that the injuries, which apparently included memory loss, were related to a horse riding accident.

The accident reportedly left Anne's daughter severely distraught. Sources told Woman's Day (via Express) that Tindall had long feared that her elderly mother, who is famed for her indefatigable work ethic, would get injured or sick due to her hectic schedule. "This is exactly what Zara's been worried about happening for years now, but her mum hasn't had a chance to slow down with everyone else falling apart," the source claimed. "It's really shaken Zara to the core and she's desperately hoping this memory is temporary. This has been a huge wake-up call for everyone in the family and they're rightfully distressed."

After five nights in hospital, Anne was discharged and issued a statement apologizing for her absence from royal events, something that was necessary for the hard-working princess' recovery. "Concussions are always potentially dangerous in terms of long-term symptoms if they become more severe," brain and cognition expert Natalie Mackenzie told the Independent.