Zara Tindall reveals heartbreaking second miscarriage

Zara Tindall had a second miscarriage before birth of her baby Lena in June. Photo / Getty Images

Zara Tindall has revealed that she suffered a second miscarriage before giving birth to her younger daughter Lena last month.

The Queen's granddaughter, who also has a daughter Mia, four, with former rugby player Mike Tindall, announced she was pregnant with her second child in November 2016, but a spokesperson revealed on Christmas Eve that she'd suffered a miscarriage.

According to the Daily Mail, Zara - whose elder daughter Mia was born in 2014 - has revealed she suffered a second miscarriage "really early on" in a subsequent pregnancy, which was never announced to the public.

"You need to go through a period where you don't talk about it because it's too raw," she told The Sunday Times of her decision to keep the news private.

It's not clear when Zara's miscarriage occurred, but it would have happened between December 2016 and October 2017 when she fell pregnant with Lena.

The royal, 37, added that the hardest part of her first miscarriage was having to tell the world, but found comfort in people writing to her saying they had been through the same experience.

Zara said: "In our case, it was something that was really rare; it was nature saying, ''This one's not right.''

"I had to go through having the baby because it was so far along."

Zara was thought to be around four-months pregnant at the time of her first miscarriage.

Zara Phillips kisses daughter Mia Tindall. Photo / Getty Images

The equestrian champion, who was named Sports Personality of the Year in 2006, said her older brother Peter Phillips was very "protective" of her and "concerned", as was her husband Mike when she had to go through it again.

"Everyone was. It was a time when my family came to the fore and I needed them," she said.

With Mia set to start school in September and with one-month-old Lena to look after, Zara said she is "going back and doing it all again", adding: "It is fine at the moment."

At the time of her first miscarriage it was thought Zara would have been about four-months pregnant, and the baby was expected to arrive in late spring.

Breaking his silence last year about their devastating loss, Mike, the former Gloucester Rugby and England captain said: "One thing you do learn is how many other people have to go through the same thing."

The former rugby player continued: "The saving grace for us has been Mia. However down we feel, she will come running up in our faces."

The news comes as Zara made one of her first appearances on Saturday since having Lena.