Princess Anne would have been 'unhappy' about Mike Tindall's underpants story, says expert

16 November 2022, 14:00

Royal expert on GMB blasts Mike Tindall for 'diminishing' the Royal Family on I'm A Celeb

By Alice Dear

A royal correspondent has claimed that Princess Anne, Mike Tyndall's mother-in-law, wouldn't have 'welcomed' the story he told on a recent episode of I'm A Celebrity.

Princess Anne wouldn't have "welcomed" the story Mike Tindall told about her on I'm A Celebrity.

This is according to former BBC royal correspondent Michael Cole who said that Mike, who is married to Zara Tindall, is "demeaning" himself on the hit reality show and "diminishing" the Royal Family.

He appeared on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday morning alongside Mike's friend James Haskell, who disagreed with his comments.

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During the interview, Michael said: "Mike is a nice guy, he's a World Cup-winning hero, he married the late Queen's granddaughter, he's got a lovely family, what on earth is he doing demeaning himself and diminishing the Royal Family in this show?"

Presenter Susanna Reid replied to his comments by asking: "Does it diminish the Royal Family or does it show that Princess Anne has got a sense of humour?"

Cole went on to say: "She won't be welcoming that, she won't be welcoming that little story."

The royal correspondent added: "He should have a sign on his head that says 'I'm only doing this for the money', and of course it is a large amount of money."

James Haskell, a close friend of Mike Tindall's, retorted the remarks made by Michael Cole on the show, explaining: "I think that the fact that you would suggest that Princess Anne is going to react in a certain way, you're guessing.

"I think one of the things people do around the Royal Family is guess, they have perceptions, they have what they would like it to be, when actually they are a normal family in a normal way."

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He argued that Mike has "just drawn the curtain back a bit" and "said something very funny" which "humanises" Princess Anne.

James, who has met Princess Anne on several occasions, said that she has an "amazing sense of humour" and that she wouldn't have "batted an eyelid" at the story Mike told.

The story was told by Mike in the I'm A Celebrity jungle while he was chatting to comedians Seann Walsh and Babatunde Aléshé.

Speaking about an incident which happened at Zara's 30th birthday party, Mike revealed that while dancing with the Princess Royal, he split his trousers to reveal novelty underpants which read 'nibble by nuts'.

He went on to explain that Princess Anne reacted by saying: "I'd rather not".

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