Zara Tindall Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Zara Tindall

MBE OLY

Tindall in 2007

Born

Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips

15 May 1981 (age 44)

St Mary's Hospital, London, England

Other names

Mrs Michael Tindall

Alma mater

University of Exeter

Spouse(s)

Mike Tindall

(m. 2011)

Children

Parents

Mark Phillips (father)
Anne, Princess Royal (mother)

Personal information

Discipline

Eventing

Medal record

Olympic Games

Representing Great Britain
Silver	2012 London	Team Eventing
World Championships
Gold	2006 Aachen	Individual Eventing
Silver	2006 Aachen	Team Eventing
Silver	2014 Normandy	Team Eventing
European Championships
Gold	2005 Blenheim	Individual Eventing
Gold	2005 Blenheim	Team Eventing
Gold	2007 Pratoni del Vivaro	Team Eventing

Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall (born Phillips on 15 May 1981) is a famous British horse rider, an Olympian, and a member of the British royal family. She is the daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips. She is also the eldest niece of King Charles III. When she was born, she was sixth in line to the succession to the British throne. As of 2024, she is 21st in line.

Zara Tindall won the Eventing World Championship in Aachen, Germany, in 2006. In the same year, the public voted her the 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In 2012, she carried the Olympic flame at Cheltenham Racecourse on her horse, Toytown. As part of the Great Britain Eventing Team, she won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Her mother presented the medal to her. She married rugby union player Mike Tindall in 2011.

Early Life and School Days
Her Amazing Riding Career
Helping Others Through Charity Work
Other Activities and Royal Duties
Family Life
Honours and Awards
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and School Days

Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips was born on 15 May 1981, at 8:15 pm. She was born at the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, London. She was christened on 27 July 1981, at Windsor Castle. Her uncle, Charles, who was then the Prince of Wales, suggested her first name.

Zara has an older brother named Peter. She also has two younger half-sisters, Felicity Wade and Stephanie Phillips.

Phillips attended Beaudesert Park School and Port Regis School. She then went to Gordonstoun School in Scotland, like other members of the royal family. During her school years, Zara was very good at many sports. She played hockey and took part in athletics and gymnastics for her schools. Later, she studied at the University of Exeter and became a physiotherapist.

Her Amazing Riding Career

After university, Zara Phillips decided to become a professional horse rider, just like her parents. In June 2003, she got a sponsorship deal with Cantor Index. This helped her pay for her equestrian career. In 2003, she finished second at Burghley Horse Trials in her first big four-star event. Tindall could not compete in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens because her horse got injured.

Riding her horse Toytown, Tindall won individual and team gold medals at the 2005 European Eventing Championship. This was in Blenheim. She also won individual gold and team silver medals at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. This made her the Eventing World Champion until 2010. After her win in Germany, she was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year by the British public. Her mother had won this award in 1971. She also received the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) award in 2007 for her achievements in horse riding. She won team gold at the 2007 European Eventing Championships in Italy.

The British Olympic Association announced that Tindall would ride Toytown for the British team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. However, Toytown got injured, and she had to withdraw from the team.

Tindall competing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London

In July 2010, Zara launched her own line of equestrian clothing. It was designed for Musto Outdoor Clothing and called ZP176. This name came from her team number when she first rode for her country.

She competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games on her horse High Kingdom. She won a silver medal in the team event. Tindall finished second at Luhmühlen Horse Trials in 2013 with High Kingdom. At the World Equestrian Games in 2014, Tindall and High Kingdom were part of the British team that won team silver.

Tindall started using her married name, Tindall, in March 2016. She competed as Zara Tindall when she tried to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. In 2017, she came in third place at the Kentucky Three-Day Event on High Kingdom. High Kingdom retired from the sport in 2018. In January 2020, she became a director at the Cheltenham Racecourse. In August 2020, Tindall was chosen to be on the British Team for the first time at the FEI Nations Cup in France. In October 2021, Tindall competed in Maryland and finished 11th with her horse Class Affair. In May 2022, Tindall won the advanced class at the Chatsworth Horse Trials, riding Class Affair.

Helping Others Through Charity Work

Zara Tindall often supports and attends events for different charities. These charities mostly help people with spinal injuries, support horse riding, and help children. In 2005, she sold one of her evening gowns to raise money for tsunami relief. She also visited New Zealand to support The Catwalk Trust.

From 1998 to 2005, she was the president of Club 16–24. This group encourages young people to get interested in horse racing. She works with Inspire, a charity that helps people with spinal cord injuries. She is also a patron of Lucy Air Ambulance for Children. This is a service that flies sick children to hospitals for urgent care.

Tindall has appeared at events for The Caudwell Charitable Trust. This charity helps children with special needs, disabilities, and serious illnesses. In 2006, she took part in a charity day for Cantor Index. In 2007, she became a patron of the Mark Davies Injured Riders Fund. To help with Sport Relief 2008, she posed for a portrait by artist Jack Vettriano.

In 2009, she attended a celebrity poker tournament in Monaco to help Darfur, Sudan. In October 2010, she attended another celebrity poker tournament in London for Cancer Research UK, where she is a patron. In 2011, she sold another evening gown to help the Christchurch earthquake appeal, raising £22,000. In 2013, she visited the Stroud Maternity Ward to celebrate its 60th anniversary. In 2014, Tindall supported the #bringbackourgirls campaign. In April 2020, Tindall helped with an initiative to provide more personal protective equipment for National Health Service workers.

Other Activities and Royal Duties

In June 2015, Tindall launched a jewelry collection inspired by horses. It was called "Zara Phillips Collection" and was made with Australian designer John Calleija.

On 17 September 2022, during the time of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, Tindall joined her brother and six cousins. They stood guard for 15 minutes around the Queen's coffin as it lay in state at Westminster Hall. On 19 September, she attended the state funeral with her husband Mike and daughter Mia.

Family Life

Tindall with her husband in 2012

Zara Phillips met rugby union player Mike Tindall in Australia in 2003. He was playing for the England national team when they won the Rugby World Cup. They got engaged in 2010. The Queen gave her permission for the marriage on 10 May 2011. The couple had a party on the royal yacht Britannia before their wedding.

They married on 30 July 2011, at the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. About 400 guests attended. Her ivory silk dress was designed by Stewart Parvin. She wore the Meander Tiara with her veil. A reception was held at Holyrood Palace after the service.

The Tindalls lived in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, before moving to Aston Farm. This is a farmhouse next to Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate. Tindall gave birth to her first daughter, Mia Grace, on 17 January 2014. Her second daughter, Lena Elizabeth, was born on 18 June 2018. Their third child, a son named Lucas Philip, was born on 21 March 2021, at their home. Zara Tindall is also the godmother to Prince George of Wales, who is the son of her cousin William, Prince of Wales.