Zara and Mike Tindall Have the Most Romantic Tradition on Trips to Australia
Australia holds a special in Zara and Mike Tindall’s hearts. The reason? It’s where the two members of the British royal family first met. So, it may come as no surprise that whenever the couple’s in Australia, they have a seriously sweet—and downright romantic—must-do, going back to where it all started.
Mike and Zara try to visit the bar where they met whenever they’re in Australia
Leave it to Zara and Mike, who have previously been dubbed the British royal family’s sexiest couple, to return to where they met on an annual basis.
“We go to Australia every year for the Magic Millions racing event,” Mike told Hello in a June 2024 interview. “And we try to get back to have lunch at the place where we met whenever we can.”
The former England rugby player met Princess Anne’s daughter when he was still active in the sport. (Mike retired in 2014.)
Zara and Mike found themselves in Sydney, Australia, at the Manly Wharf Bar in 2003, during the Rugby World Cup. “We love Sydney and have loads of friends there, so it’s been an important city in our lives,” Mike said.
Zara and Mike became engaged in 2010 and got married a year later in 2011. The couple went on to welcome their daughter, Mia, 10, in 2014. Their second daughter, Lena, 6, followed in 2018, and their now-3-year-old son, Lucas, in 2021.
(Royal watchers might remember catching a glimpse of Mia holding hands with Prince Louis, the youngest of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s three kids, on Christmas Day in 2023.)
Zara and Mike Tindall on meeting in Sydney, Australia
Through the years, both the retired rugby player and equestrian have shared some of the details about how they met.
Zara, for her part, discussed meeting her husband in a 2012 60 Minutes Australia interview. She said the relationship “kind of went from there” after they first crossed paths.
Meanwhile, Mike recalled how he ended up at the bar after being cut from England’s roster during the 2003 Rugby World Cup, which Australia hosted.
“I was at the World Cup; she was out watching,” Mike said on a 2022 episode of the U.K. survival reality series, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (via People).
“I got dropped from the semi-final [and]I was pissed off. So I went for a beer with another guy who got dropped and a guy who was over [in Sydney]. They’d met her before and they introduced us and then got chatting.”
Mike continued, recalling how they’d gone “out for lunch locally” on their “first actual date.” It “ended up being quite a boozy one. Then we figured out that we both quite like getting smashed. It was a good start.”
The Tindall family has no plans of moving to Australia
The Tindalls won’t be changing their address from England to Australia. During the aforementioned Hello interview, Mike dismissed reports that he and Zara were considering leaving their current Gatcombe Park home in Gloucestershire, England.
“Everyone keeps telling us we’re moving there, but we’re not. It’s so far away, especially when you have a big family,” he said.
So Zara, Mike, and their three kids will continue to live near the Princess Royal, who also calls Gatcombe Park home. And, on weekends, their main focus will still be sports.
“We’re no different to other parents and our weekends end up being about the kids and getting them to their sports. It’s a mixture of rugby, hockey, swimming, gymnastics,” Mike said before adding he and Zara “want to expose them to as many sports as we can.”
