Following Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the royal family had to adjust to properly greeting the new monarch, King Charles III.
“You know when you’re following a routine? So, I almost curtsied to the king the other day,” Mike Tindall — who is married to the king’s niece Zara Tindall (née Phillips) — admitted during the Tuesday, September 27, episode of his “The Good, The Bad & The Rugby” podcast. “Without thinking about it. I was just following behind my wife, saw her curtsy, sort of — and then, fortunately, didn’t.”
While the 43-year-old former rugby player — who married Zara in July 2011 — managed to “style out” his almost-bow, it may have looked odd to onlookers. “I might have looked like I stubbed my toe or something on the floor,” he quipped.
Charles, 73, ascended the British throne following the death of the late sovereign, who died on September 8 at the age of 96. Mike and Zara, 41, joined members of the royal family and visiting dignitaries at the queen’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 20. Their eldest daughter, 8-year-old Mia, later joined them for the queen’s committal service at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, England.
“You never predict it, but you’re never ready for when it does,” Mike — who also shares Lena, 4, and Lucas, 14 months, with the equestrian — opened up about the queen’s loss during the Tuesday podcast episode. “I’m not even a direct family member… but watching what my wife, what Zara had to go through, obviously she loved the Queen beyond everything else. Their connection with horses, the same with the Princess Royal, they had a real sort of bond around that.”
Zara is the daughter of Charles’ sister, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, and ex-husband Captain Mark Phillips.
At the end of the queen’s committal service, the Imperial State Crown, orb and sceptre were removed from her casket as a symbol that her reign had ended after 70 years. Charles, for his part, was officially proclaimed the country’s monarch earlier this month.
“My mother’s reign was unequaled in its duration, its dedication and its devotion,” His Majesty told the Accession Council at St. James Palace. “Even as we grieve, we give thanks for this most faithful life. I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty which have now passed to me.”
He continued: “In taking up these responsibilities I shall strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set in upholding constitutional government and to seek the peace, harmony and prosperity of the peoples of these Islands, and of the Commonwealth Realms and Territories across the world. In this purpose, I know that I shall be upheld by the affection and loyalty of the peoples whose sovereign I have been called upon to be, and in the discharge of these duties, I will be guided by the council of their elected parliaments.”
