Mike Tindall's decision to take part in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here is no different to Prince Harry chasing commercial deals, a royal expert has said.
Mike, the husband of Zara Tindall, a cousin of Harry and a niece of King Charles, has been entertaining viewers for almost a week now on the hit ITV show.
So far, he has dished on his boozy first date with Zara and wowed his campmates with his rapping skills.
And royal expert and author Katie Nicholl says Mike will be making "a lot of money" out of his appearance - and it's no different to Harry and Meghan Markle, who since stepping down as senior royals have also signed several big money deals.
Speaking on True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat, she explained: "He's [Mike] making a lot of money out of it. I do think this all leads to the much bigger question about royals and commercialisation.
"We dedicate so much time to discussing Harry and his commercial deals. How is this any different? It’s not.
"But I think the point is, this really crystalises Charles' argument and vision for a slimmed-down monarchy.”
Katie also dismissed the idea of Mike's mother-in-law Princess Anne cheering him on and watching him from home - and added she does not believe he would have asked for permission from the royals to appear.
She added: "Knowing Princess Anne...The idea that she’ll be sitting, cheering Mike on is absolutely unthinkable.
"I think she’ll be thinking, ‘What on earth is he doing?’ And that’s probably the thoughts of most of the senior royals.
"One wonders if the Queen was still alive, and knowing how close Zara was to her grandmother, whether she might have actually had a conversation [about her husband appearing] saying, ‘Granny, just so you know...’ I think that’s much more likely than not.
"But the idea that they’d have checked with Wills and Kate? No!"
So far the former rugby player has not given too much away about his royal in-laws but did speak candidly about Zara's traumatic birth experience and how she almost "choked him to death" when their one-year-old son Lucas arrived at their home in Gloucestershire.
On today's episode of Lorraine, the presenter spoke to the Mirror's royal editor Russell Myers and said: "We hope he had permission from Zara to talk about these things."
And Russell replied: "Well yes, you do I suppose otherwise he will be in for an ear bashing when he gets home."
However, Russell believes that Mike seems to have been a favourite with viewers, who are seeing why he was beloved by his wife's late grandmother the Queen.
He added: "I think he is showing a really sensitive side. People might have assumed Mike Tindall is this big rugby guy, with a hard exterior but he's got a bit of a soft centre and I think he is going to go quite far.
"He does have a great relationship with lots of the royal family - William and Harry and Beatrice and Eugenie but the Queen absolutely loved him and everybody is seeing what great qualities he's got - so I'm rooting for Mike at the moment."
The Royal Beat - available on True Royalty TV.
