Mike Tindall praises 'brilliant' wife Zara's support as his dad battles Parkinson's disease

Mike Tindall has spoken candidly about his father's battle with Parkinson's disease in a new interview, which aired on Wednesday in the UK.

The rugby star, who is married to Princess Anne's daughter Zara Tindall, also praised his "brilliant" wife for her support.

The 42-year-old spoke to BBC's Breakfast as he met his dad Philip Tindall for the first time this year, for his 75th birthday.

"She's been brilliant," Mike said about his wife, adding, "She sort of gets it and she sort of keeps me on my toes a little bit with it, and where we are in terms of finding out more about new drugs that are coming out and new trials and everything else."

The grandson-in-law of the Queen has been a Patron of charity Cure Parkinson's since 2018.

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In April, he joined forces with another member of the royal family, joined forces with another member of the royal family, who is Patron of Parkinson's UK for a joint engagement to mark Parkinson's Awareness Month.

Speaking about his father's 2003 diagnosis, Mike told BBC's Breakfast he didn't really register at the time what the disease would do to his dad.

"[It] didn't really dawn on me what Parkinson's was. If you looked at people who were prevalent with Parkinson's at the time you'd say Muhammed Ali, and you looked at my dad and you looked at Muhammed Ali, well, it's not the same person, surely it's not the same disease. Or I don't know how Michael J Fox was back then but another name that sort of sprang out, who you knew who had it.

"And then, you know, life went on. You know, I was 25, rugby was going really well, you were sort of focused on that.

"Then when we got married in 2011, somewhere around there, things were starting to ... you could see the effects grow on him, in terms of he's a much smaller man than he ever was ... curvature of the spine, he had to have surgery on that.

"Slowly, from that sort of point, over the last 10 years, there's been loads of other problems that have come across because of it.

"My dad ... was an athlete, played rugby, played all sports. Now suddenly he struggles to pick up a pen."

Mike and Zara will celebrate their 10-year wedding anniversary on July 30, just four months after the couple welcomed their third child, son Lucas Philip Tindall.

The couple also have two older daughters — Mia Grace, seven, and Lena Elizabeth, two.