Prince William hugs Mike Tindall as they attend the Maserati Royal Charity Polo Trophy Match. Photo / Getty Images
Prince William hugs Mike Tindall as they attend the Maserati Royal Charity Polo Trophy Match. Photo / Getty Images
One was raised in West Yorkshire, the son of a social worker mother and a banker father. A self-confessed binge drinker, he eschewed university for a sporting career and once knocked back a concoction of blended pig’s genitalia on reality television.
The other is the firstborn son of the King, who split his childhood between a palace in London and a country estate in Gloucestershire. Eton-educated, he went on to study at the University of St Andrews, is apparently not cut out for heavy drinking – and is yet to appear on an ITV gross-out show.
Yet despite the contrasting backgrounds of Mike Tindall and the Prince of Wales, they appear to share a warm and brotherly friendship. Yesterday, we caught another glimpse of the part Tindall so effortlessly plays in the story of the modern royals.
Despite the contrasting backgrounds of Mike Tindall and Prince William, they appear to share a brotherly friendship. Photo / Getty Images
The 45-year-old husband of Prince William’s cousin Zara threw an affectionate arm around Prince William’s son George when the royals greeted well-wishers at Sandringham on Christmas Day. Abandoning formality, Tindall once again resembled the jolly uncle at a family do who can be relied upon to liven up proceedings.
In the absence of Prince William’s actual brother, the California-dwelling Duke of Sussex, the former England rugby star has, to some extent, come to fill the void; to allow the heir to the throne to truly relax and be someone he can confide in.
Judging by the small details he has drip-fed us, largely via podcasts, about his relationship with the Waleses, a fond, teasing dynamic is shared between the couples.
Appearing last week on a podcast hosted by former rugby professional Rob Burrow, Tindall revealed the laddish nickname he has for Prince William. “The Prince of Wales is known to me as ‘one-pint’ Willy because he’s not the best of drinkers,” he said, before adding: “Oh my God. It’s out there now. Sorry, sir.”
Touching friendship between Zara Tindall and Prince William's children and Mike's bond with Prince George prove how the Tindalls and Waleses have grown ever closer (since Harry and Meghan drifted away) https://t.co/bq67Wux6pUpic.twitter.com/eoHcU8xATz
An ironic “sir”, presumably, since he also once greeted the heir to the throne by shouting “How’s it going, baldy?” across the room at his own 27th birthday bash in 2005.
The regal response from Britain’s future king: “What’s it to you, fatty?”
Such exchanges imply that when it comes to the rapport between the two fathers of three, deference and obeisance are dropped in favour of fraternal banter.
Cheeky, frank, down-to-earth – in the most literal way imaginable during his appearance on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! last year – Tindall is arguably reminiscent of the once-playful, teasing brother Prince William was formerly close to.
Royal commentator Dickie Arbiter, a former Palace press secretary, believes the amicable relationship between Prince William and Tindall owes much to their similar personalities.
“Mike is a pretty straight guy,” he says. “He’s down to earth, and William is too. Put aside [William’s] role in state occasions, where he has to maintain a certain decorum; the rest of the time, if he goes to a rugby or football match, he’s in there cheering with the rest of the fans.”
Both Prince William and Tindall are “likeable guys”, and Zara’s long-standing closeness to her cousin has “rubbed off” on her husband, he says. “We’ve seen [this] time and again in William and Mike’s interactions. They are a proper family. They’re not playing at it.”
At Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year, Tindall showed Prince Louis his playful side. Photo / Getty Images
Tindall, he adds, is a “family guy”, as evidenced by his easy interaction with Prince George yesterday. At Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year, Tindall again showed his playful side when he made an “I’m watching you” gesture at Prince Louis.
On Tindall’s bond with Louis’s father, Arbiter says: “They are two peas from the same pod - they’ve just had different upbringings.”
Tindall’s teasing affection evidently extends to the Princess of Wales, too. On his own podcast, The Good, The Bad and The Rugby, the sportsman revealed last year that he had hoped to rib her after she joined a session on the pitch at Twickenham with England rugby players. When he learned she had been “pretty good”, he sighed in mock frustration.
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, suggests Tindall’s appeal to Prince William lies in his embodiment of the kind of fun the heir to the throne can no longer indulge in.
“Mike Tindall has that kind of sportsman camaraderie that would especially appeal to William, who was once a wild boy himself,” she says. “Mike gets funnier under the influence of alcohol and can be totally outrageous. William cannot do this anymore as he is too aware of his responsibilities. But he can live vicariously through Mike.”
Meanwhile, according to Telegraph Royal editor Hannah Furness, the two men do indeed share a “brotherly relationship”. She says: “[Tindall] has somehow managed to find the line between being fairly indiscreet but so charming with it that nobody minds in the slightest. Even his high-risk turns on reality TV have [become] an asset to the royals: if he likes them, the public senses, they must be all right.”
