Zara Tindall

Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips was born on 15 May 1981 at 8:15 pm in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, London. She was christened on 27 July 1981, at Windsor Castle; her first name was suggested by her uncle, the Prince of Wales.[3] Her godparents are her maternal uncle, the Duke of York; the Countess of Lichfield; Helen, Lady Stewart, the wife of Sir Jackie Stewart; Andrew Parker Bowles; and Hugh Thomas.[4] She has an elder brother, Peter, and two younger half-sisters, Felicity Wade (née Tonkin;[5] from her father's affair with Heather Tonkin) and Stephanie Phillips, from her father's second marriage to Sandy Pflueger.

Phillips attended Beaudesert Park School in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and Port Regis School in Shaftesbury, Dorset, before following other members of the royal family in attending Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland. During her schooldays, Phillips excelled at many sporting activities, representing her schools in hockey, athletics and gymnastics. She later studied at University of Exeter and qualified as a physiotherapist.[6][7]

Zara Tindall competing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

After university, she began to pursue an equestrian career, in the footsteps of her parents. In June 2003, she announced that she had secured a sponsorship deal with Cantor Index, a leading company in spread betting, to help cover the costs of her equestrian career.[8] She finished runner up at Burghley Horse Trials in 2003 in her first four-star event.[9] Tindall missed the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, when her horse suffered an injury during training.[10]

Riding her horse Toytown, Tindall collected individual and team gold medals at the 2005 European Eventing Championship in Blenheim,[11] and individual gold and team silver medals at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, making her the reigning Eventing World Champion until 2010.[12][13] The same year after her win in Germany, she was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year by the British viewing public (an award her mother won in 1971).[12] She was also appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours for her services to equestrianism.[2] Despite winning team gold at the 2007 European Eventing Championships in Italy, she failed to defend her individual title after a problem in the show-jumping phase of the competition.[14]

The British Olympic Association announced that Tindall would ride Toytown for the British equestrian team at the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 in Hong Kong.[15] However Toytown was injured during training and she was forced to withdraw from the team. [16]

On 25 October 2008, Tindall fell from her horse, Tsunami II, at the 15th fence of a cross-country event at Pau, France, and broke her right collarbone. The horse broke its neck after it tipped over the hedge and was put down.[17] In 2009, Tindall announced she was designing her own range of equestrian clothing for Musto Outdoor Clothing.[18][19] The range is named ZP176 after the team number she was given when she first represented her country. The range was officially launched in July 2010.[20]

On 11 June 2012, Tindall was announced as a member of the British Equestrian team for the 2012 London Olympic Games.[21] She competed in the Olympics on High Kingdom and won a silver medal in the team event. Her mother, Princess Anne, presented her medal.[22] Tindall finished second at Luhmühlen Horse Trials 2013, on her top horse High Kingdom.[23] At the World Equestrian Games in 2014, Tindall and High Kingdom were part of the British team that won team silver.[24]

Tindall stopped using her maiden name, Phillips, in March 2016. She competed for the first time as Zara Tindall during her unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.[25] In August 2020, Tindall was selected for her first appearance on the British Team competing at the prestigious FEI Nations Cup in Le Pin au Haras, France.[26]

Tindall frequently supports and attends events for various charitable causes, mainly revolving around spinal injuries, equestrianism, and children's causes. In 2005, she auctioned one of her evening gowns, worn at the London premiere of the film Seabiscuit, to raise money for tsunami relief. She also undertook a visit to New Zealand in her role as patron of The Catwalk Trust.[27][28] From 1998 to 2005, she served as the president of Club 16–24, a group which encourages young people to take an interest in racing.[29] She is associated with Inspire, a Salisbury-based medical research charity which helps to improve the quality of life of people with spinal cord injuries, and Sargent Cancer Care for Children,[30] the UK's leading charity for children's cancer. She is patron of Lucy Air Ambulance for Children,[31] which is the UK's first dedicated air transfer service to fly critically ill infants and children to hospitals for urgent care.

Tindall has appeared at events for The Caudwell Charitable Trust, which targets children with special needs, disabilities and serious illnesses.[32] In 2006, she took part in a special charity day for Cantor Index, whose staff were killed in the 11 September 2001 attacks. In 2007, she became patron of the Mark Davies Injured Riders Fund.[33] To help with Sport Relief 2008, she posed for a portrait by artist Jack Vettriano.[34] In 2009, she attended a celebrity poker tournament in Monaco in aid of Darfur, Sudan.[35] In October 2010, she attended a celebrity poker tournament in London, in aid of Cancer Research UK, of which she is patron. In 2011, she auctioned another evening gown in aide of the Christchurch earthquake appeal, raising £22,000. In 2013, she visited the Stroud Maternity Ward to celebrate their 60th anniversary. In 2014, Tindall lent her support to the #bringbackourgirls campaign.[36] In April 2020, Tindall participated an Equestrian Relief initiative that would provide increased personal protective equipment for NHS workers.[37]

Tindall with her husband in 2012

She met rugby union player Mike Tindall, who was playing for the England national team, during their Rugby World Cup-winning campaign in Australia in 2003. On 21 December 2010, Buckingham Palace announced their engagement.[38] As then required by the Royal Marriages Act 1772, the Queen gave her consent to their marriage in a meeting of the Privy Council on 10 May 2011.[39] Tindall proposed to her with "a custom-designed diamond and platinum ring with a divided diamond band."[40][41] The couple held a celebration on the royal yacht Britannia prior to the wedding.[42]

The wedding was held on 30 July 2011 at the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland, with 400 guests in attendance.[42][43] The marriage was officiated by the Reverend Neil Gardner.[42] Her off-the-peg ivory silk dress designed by Stewart Parvin featured "a chevron-pleated bodice, a dropped waist, and a 'cathedral-length' train."[44][45] The Meander Tiara was lent to her and secured the veil.[46] Dolly Maude was her maid of honour, with her paternal half-sister, Stephanie, among the bridesmaids.[44][45] A reception was held at Holyrood Palace following the service.[42][47]

The Tindalls resided in a £1.2 million home in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire before moving onto the Gatcombe Park estate near Minchinhampton.[48] Tindall gave birth to a daughter, Mia Grace (/ˈmiːə/ MEE-ə),[49] on 17 January 2014 at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, who is 19th in the line of succession. [50] Mia was christened on 30 November 2014 at St Nicholas Church in the village of Cherington.[51] Her next two pregnancies ended in miscarriage.[52] Their second daughter, Lena Elizabeth (/ˈleɪnə/ LAY-nə),[49][53] was born on 18 June 2018 at the Stroud Maternity Hospital, and is 20th in the line of succession.[54][55] On 8 December 2020, it was announced that Tindall is expecting their third child.[56] Tindall is godmother to Prince George of Cambridge, the son of her cousin, the Duke of Cambridge.[57]

In December 2000, she had a severe car crash near Bourton-on-the-Water.[8] In January 2020, Tindall was banned from driving for six months after accumulating 12 points on her licence. It was also announced that the court was fining her "£666 plus costs and a victim surcharge of £151".[58]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zara Phillips.

• Zara Tindall (and here) at FEI
• Zara Tindall at IMDb