The Duchess of Sussex, who would go on to welcome her daughter Princess Lilibet in 2021, is not the only royal woman who has bravely spoken out about their own pregnancy complications. Zara Tindall announced on Christmas Eve 2016 that she and her husband Mike Tindall had gone through a miscarriage, just a month after they shared the news that they were expecting their second child, a sibling for Mia Tindall, then three.
Information was understandably scant as the family processed the tragedy. ‘Very sadly, Zara and Mike Tindall have lost their baby,’ a spokesperson stated following the sad news. ‘At this difficult time, we ask that everyone respects their privacy.’
Two years later, however, Princess Anne’s daughter felt comfortable enough to open up about the experience during an interview with her brother, Peter Phillips, in The Sunday Times. ‘ In our case, it was something that was really rare; it was nature saying, “This one’s not right.”’ Zara shared, adding that she had lost another pregnancy in the months following her miscarriage. And while the Olympic equestrienne said that the hardest part of the process was sharing the news having already publicly announced that she was expecting a baby, she also spoke of the support that she had felt from those closest to her: ‘Pete was again very much the protective brother; he was very concerned about me, as was Mike,’ she said. ‘Everyone was. It was a time when my family came to the fore, and I needed them.’
In another testament to the conversations that can be sparked when royal women tell their stories, Zara disclosed that she and her husband had received a host of letters from other families who had experienced pregnancy loss. The late Queen’s granddaughter would later welcome Lena Elizabeth Tindall in 2018 and Lucas Philip Tindall in 2021, both named in honour of their great-grandparents, Queen Elizabeth and the late Duke of Edinburgh.