Moment Mike Tindall 'got into a bit of trouble' over Prince Harry joke
Mike Tindall landed in hot water over a lewd joke he once made on TV which referenced Prince Harry, according to a new book the former rugby player co-wrote.
Tindall, who is married to the late Queen Elizabeth II's eldest granddaughter, Zara Tindall, is currently doing publicity for the book, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby – Unleashed, which he co-wrote with James Haskell and Alex Payne.
The trio also present a successful podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby. While predominantly about sport, Tindall often shares insights into royal life.
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Mike Tindall, right, got into hot water over a lewd joke he made about Prince Harry, second from left. Getty
Now, his co-worker Haskell has shed light on a gaffe Tindall made in relation to Prince Harry.
"[Tindall] even got into a bit of trouble when he appeared on a live version of A Question of Sport: he told a story about him and Iain Balshaw pretending to punch Prince Harry at a post-World Cup final party in 2003 and joked that the royal family wanted to fill him in for real," Haskell writes in the book, according to an extract.
"I say trouble but it was a bit of a minor kerfuffle, nothing to write home about."
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Mike and Zara Tindall have been married since 2011. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Haskell also wrote that the incident would have blown over had it not been for journalist and royal correspondent Omid Scobie, who co-wrote the 2020 book Finding Freedom about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
In 2022, Scobie wrote a column in which he said the Tindalls do not get the same criticism for their commercial ventures as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
He referred to Tindall's decision to appear on the 2022 season of the UK's version of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!
Haskell wrote, "It did come back into public consciousness when that very odd bloke Omid Scobie started sticking up for Harry and Meghan, and loads of trolls went in on Tins, especially about him wanting to fill in a young, defenceless Harry."
"All context, sarcasm and humour lost, when things are taken out of the zone they were meant to be in. To be fair to Tins he gives zero f---s about stuff like that, but it's very annoying for him.
"Royal fans can be mental. I think we all know that American royal fans are f---ing nuts, especially Scobieites."
Zara and Mike Tindall often accompany members of the royal family to official events, such as this year's Thanksgiving Service for King Constantine of the Hellenes. Getty
Tindall has also spoken about his marriage in the book and what the royal family is really like behind the scenes.
"Believe it or not, marrying into the royal family was pretty easy for me. They were always nice to me, and I was always nice to them. Simple really," he wrote.
The former England rugby star married Zara Tindall in 2011. They have three children together.
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