Queen responds to news of Zara Tindall's pregnancy
Zara Tindall, the Queen’s granddaughter, is pregnant with her third child, her husband has confirmed.
Mike Tindall, the former England rugby star, said Zara is expecting a “third Tindall” in his weekly podcast.
He said: “It’s been a good week for me, had a little scan last week – third Tindall on its way.”
Soon after the announcement, a Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed the Queen and Prince Philip are “delighted”.
The spokesman said: “Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh are aware and delighted.”
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast, Tindall added: “I’d like a boy this time, I’ve got two girls, I would like a boy.
“I’ll love it whether a boy or a girl – but please be a boy.”
It comes after the couple suffered two miscarriages.
The couple have two children - Mia, six, and Lena, two.
Tindall joked with his co-hosts: “We’re not sure what to do Covi or Covina – I don’t know where to go with names.”
And of Zara, he added: “Z is very good, always careful because of things that have happened in the past, and really looking forward to it.”
Read more: Boy, 8, bumps into Prince William and Kate at station after finishing cancer treatment
Zara is the daughter of Princess Anne, the Queen’s only daughter. She does not have a royal title, as Anne decided to decline the offer of one from the Queen at Zara’s birth.
But she is still a big part of the Royal Family, and is seen on the Buckingham Palace balcony with her husband, and children, alongside cousins Prince William and Harry, at key events like Trooping the Colour.
It means another great-grandchild for the Queen, who has eight. Princess Eugenie, Zara’s cousin, is also expecting a child in early 2021, taking the Queen into double figures.
Watch: Zara Tindall reflects on miscarriages
Read more: Prince William admits he and Kate are struggling to make Christmas plans
Zara, 39, has spoken about suffering miscarriages in the past, after she revealed she was pregnant in 2016, but then had to confirm she had lost the baby.
In 2018, she revealed she had suffered another one before she had Lena.
Speaking to the Sunday Times in 2018, she said: “I had a miscarriage in 2016 and afterwards loads of people wrote to me and Mike to say they’d been through the same thing. In our case, it was something that was really rare; it was nature saying, ‘This one’s not right.’ For me, the worst bit was that we had to tell everyone — everyone knew.”
The Tindalls live in Gloucestershire, on the Gatcombe Park estate which Princess Anne owns.
The estate was a present from the Queen for Princess Anne’s first marriage. It is now home to Anne and her second husband, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence. Her son Peter Phillips also has a home on the estate, as does his former wife Autumn Phillips.
Watch: Who is the Queen?
