Mike Tindall jokes about relief at daughter's return to school following coronavirus lockdown

Primary schools across England have opened their doors again as the government eases lockdown restrictions.

While some parents are nervous about sending their Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children back to lessons, Mike Tindall is speaking for those who are fed up of homeschooling.

The former rugby player, who is married to Zara, the Queen’s granddaughter, shared a gif from Forrest Gump on his Twitter, joking that the character’s fast-paced run would be his inspiration as he dropped off his daughter Mia at the school gate on Tuesday morning.

Mia, six, lives with her parents and younger sister, Lena, on the Gatcombe estate in Gloucestershire. Her school is presumed to be close by.

Zara, who is the Queen’s oldest granddaughter, does not have a royal title, and so her children are not known as princesses, despite their cousins being third, fourth and fifth in line to the throne.

Read more: Prince William talks homeschooling: 'You worry how little you know when you can't do Maths'

Princess Charlotte, five, who is Prince William and Kate’s daughter, would also be able to go back to school on Tuesday under England’s rules.

But the royals appear to still be in Norfolk, where they have been staying at Anmer Hall. The latest video of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge showed them in the same room they have conducted most of their zoom calls from.

It’s also not clear if Charlotte’s school, Thomas’s in Battersea, has reopened.

Mike, 41, opened up about homeschooling previously, and made it pretty clear he would be sending Mia back when he could.

He said it had been “frustrating” at home.

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He told The Daily Telegraph: “Mia enjoyed it the first week because it was different being around mum and dad all the time.

“But then ultimately it's the same people who are telling her off or telling her what to do and I think she gets bored of that.”

Prince William, Mike’s cousin-in-law, has also suggested homeschooling his kids has been less than plain sailing, but sympathised with care workers in a call where he said “children don’t understand social distancing”.

But Mike revealed in May that the WhatsApp group of the younger royal generation hadn’t been all that active, so perhaps they haven’t been swapping tips as they work and educate from home.

Mike said: “I think everyone is just getting on with it.”