How the Royal Family reacted to Mike Tindall fixing his crooked nose

Mike Tindall's crooked nose has long been one of his most defining physical features, but the Royal Family wasn't exactly fond of it.

Princess Anne even asked the retired rugby star, 39, to have it straightened ahead of his wedding to her daughter Zara Phillips in 2011.

Tindall finally bit the bullet this year, undergoing surgery to iron out the nose he'd broken at least eight times in his life.

However, the father-of-two's fancy new schnoz didn't quite get the reaction you might expect from his in-laws. In fact, they barely noticed anything had changed.

"It was fine, exactly the reaction I wanted."

So, yes, even the royals fail to notice details like a family member's most significant facial feature completely changing shape.

Tindall, whose second daughter Lena Elizabeth was born last month, says he underwent the surgery to fix problems with his sinuses.

These comments mark the first time Tindall has publicly spoken about the surgery, after fans noticed his nose was visibly straighter at an event in April.

It was reported he had a second procedure to "fine tune" the surgeon's work.

RELATED: Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall welcome their second child

The former England rugby captain once admitted he didn't actually want to fix his distinctive nose, but was coming around to the idea because it impacted his ability to breathe.

“I guess it's something similar to a pug," he told The Mirror, alluding to the respiratory troubles pug dogs are known to have.

"The problem is that if I get it done, will people say I've had it just because I'm doing TV stuff now? Because it's definitely not."

At the time, the athlete was busy preparing for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, and was concerned about the possibility of yet another broken nose.

Tindall copped his first broken nose at the ripe old age of five, headbutting the steering wheel of a dodgem car after his seatbelt came loose.

Hopefully his own children, Mia and Lena, have a little more luck when it comes to their noses.