Royal Ascot: Mike Tindall once made Queen Elizabeth II laugh with silly prank
They shared a close bondMike Tindall once had Queen Elizabeth II laughing at a little joke he made during Royal Ascot.
The hilarious incident left the queen, Princess Beatrice and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, giggling.
Royal Ascot 2025 begins on June 17, with members of the royal family expected to attend. The horse racing event will conclude on June 21.
Is that a mini hat in a hat @miketindall13!? Or a cupcake, some cheese?
Answers, please! pic.twitter.com/M4gfTwRHNU
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) June 18, 2019
Mike Tindall’s prank that made Queen Elizabeth laugh at Royal Ascot
In 2019, Mike Tindall was amongst the royals attending the Royal Ascot in Ascot, Berkshire.
The likes of Prince Edward, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Zara Tindall, Peter Phillips and Princess Beatrice were also present.
In a video shared on the official ITV Racing Twitter account at the time, Mike could be seen chatting to the queen at the races.
The former rugby star, now 46, could be seen removing his top hat before reaching inside and removing an even smaller top hat from within it!
The monarch immediately cracked a smile before laughing, as did Princess Beatrice and Sophie Edinburgh, who were flanking her.
“Is that a mini hat in a hat @miketindall13?! Or a cupcake, some cheese?” ITV tweeted at the time.
Mike Tindall’s bond with the late queen
The ex-rugby star enjoyed a close bond with the late queen, what with being married to her eldest granddaughter.
The former rugby player revealed that one incident in particular led to his bond with the queen changing for the better.
“I sat next to her at lunch one day, and I was sat between two table legs. It was really annoyingly close to my groin. She gets up and starts moving them [the tables] closer together,” he told the Daily Mail.
“I said to her, ‘Ma’am, if you move them any closer, I’m going to be talking way high.’ She laughed. My relationship with her changed after that, as I felt I could tell her anything,” he added.
Mike on spending time with the queen
In his book, The Good, the Bad & the Rugby – Unleashed, which came out last October, Mike opened up some more about his bond with not only the queen, but her late husband Prince Philip too.
Mike wrote about how he’d spend time “watching the races with her on TV”. He described it as an experience “lots of people have done with their gran”.
Zara and I would often watch the racing with her on TV.
“I’m sometimes asked if the queen did informality like ‘normal’ people, and the answer to that is yes,” he wrote. “Her life wasn’t like an episode of Downton Abbey, with meals on long tables and everyone dressed in their finery every night. Zara and I would often watch the racing with her on TV, as I’m sure lots of people reading this have done with their gran.”
He continued, adding: “Lunches were also relaxed, especially up in Scotland, where lunch would often be heading out into the open space of the Scottish Highlands for a picnic. There’s a great picture of my daughter Mia sitting with the Duke of Edinburgh that captures exactly what those afternoons were like: members of a very close family who loved each other dearly spending precious time together.”
He also confessed he regretted not asking the queen “so many more things” before her death in September 2022.
Read more: Mike Tindall follows in Prince Harry’s footsteps as he makes book announcement
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