From Princess Margaret's glamorous late-night soirées to Prince William and Prince Harry's well-documented clubbing days, the Royal Family has seen its share of morning-after regrets. Even Kate Middleton founded an all-girls drinking club in college. But in the case of one royal-adjacent figure, he found himself on the receiving end of perhaps the most dramatic wake-up call in palace history.
Princess Anne's son-in-law Mike Tindall—who married Anne's daughter Zara in 2011—is known for his fun-loving personality, but it turns out he might've had a bit too much fun on one particular occasion. Per Gloucestershire Live, the rugby legend told the hilarious story about how his wife got revenge on him during a recent charity fundraiser.
Apparently, Tindall was supposed to be attending a rugby coaching clinic at 8:30 a.m., but found himself in rough shape after a night out with a friend. After "struggling" to even get inside at Princess Anne's St. James's Palace flat, he wasn't getting up, which was when Zara decided to pull an epic prank.
"I was meant to be there in 45 minutes [for the clinic]," Mike shared. "My friend rings up Zara, who phoned the police post at the palace. They started giggling, saying they saw me at 4 a.m. on video cameras struggling to get to the doorway. She says, 'I don't care what you do. He needs to be in North London in 35 minutes.'"
After Zara got involved, Mike experienced a rude awakening...to say the least. "Next thing, five guys in full riot gear with machine guns come in saying, 'Get up, get up,'" he shared. "I was, like, 'F***!' And in three minutes, I was in the back of a cab, with the police waving me off."
The former England rugby star seems to have taken the event in good humor, which isn't surprising considering his recent confession about loving a prank.
"My job now is being a dad and I love it," Mike—who shares kids Lena, Mia, and Lucas with Zara—wrote in children's magazine Beano. "It’s important to set a good example, so I play pranks on the kids and their mum."
"I love hiding and jumping out to scare them," he wrote. "It works best on mum—she screams SO loudly! The kids’ favourite prank is to hide under the table and tie people’s shoelaces together!"
Sounds like for Zara, a bit of revenge was in order.
