Mike Tindall has taken a cheeky swipe at Prince Harry during a live interview, joking that he knew the Duke of Sussex “when he was fun”.
The former England rugby star made the savage four-word remark while appearing at the Hay Literary Festival in Powys alongside his The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast co-hosts James Haskell and Alex Payne.
Reflecting on his 2011 wedding to Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall, the 47-year-old joked that Haskell had managed to avoid embarrassing himself on the big day- unlike some other guests.
“A lot of other people managed that way better than you – [like] Harry, when he was fun,” he joked, as per The Times.
The comment has sparked renewed discussion about Prince Harry’s reportedly strained relationship with several members of the Royal Family since he and Meghan Markle stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and relocated to Meghan’s native California.
While Tindall did not elaborate further on the joke, it is not the first time he has publicly contrasted his own royal experience with that of the Sussexes.
In his 2024 memoir The Good, the Bad, and the Rugby: Unleashed, Tindall spoke warmly about being welcomed into the monarchy after marrying Zara in 2011.
“Believe it or not, marrying into the Royal Family was pretty easy for me. They were always nice to me, and I was always nice to them. Simple really,” Tindall shared in his 2024 biography, The Good, the Bad, and the Rugby: Unleashed.
His comments stood in stark contrast to Meghan Markle’s account of royal life, with the Duchess of Sussex previously detailing her struggles within the Firm during the couple’s bombshell 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
During that interview, Markle alleged an unnamed royal had raised concerns about her unborn son Archie’s skin colour, while also claiming she received little support when she experienced suicidal thoughts.
Harry and Meghan, who now live in Montecito with their children Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, four, remain largely estranged from the Royal Family.
Tindall and Harry were once believed to be close, with the Duke of Sussex named godfather to Tindall’s second daughter, Lena.
However, royal insiders have long suggested the relationship has cooled in recent years following Harry’s repeated public criticisms of the monarchy.
The timing of Tindall’s comments is also notable amid reports the Sussexes were not invited to Peter Phillips’ upcoming wedding to NHS nurse Harriet Sperling.
Harry previously attended Phillips’ 2008 wedding to Autumn Kelly alongside then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy.
Elsewhere during the Hay Festival appearance, Tindall also made light of the ongoing scandal surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
The disgraced former prince is currently under investigation following the release of the Epstein Files, with Thames Valley Police announcing on Friday they had launched a probe into alleged sexual offences. Andrew had previously been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and remains under investigation.
When Payne joked that Tindall was well-connected because “he’s got his own bedroom at Buckingham Palace”, the former rugby player quipped: “Opposite end to Andrew, though.”
Tindall later admitted he had warned him to steer clear of the topic.
“Backstage, they were like, ‘It’s being recorded, maybe stay away from [the subject of] Andrew tonight?'” he said.
The trio also joked about Tindall’s 2018 corrective nose surgery after years of rugby injuries.
“Taxpayers’ money fixed it. It’s got the royal warrant if you look inside it,” Haskell joked.
The royal banter continued as the podcast hosts discussed a potential television project based around Richmond Rugby Club in south-west London, which they hoped to get the hugely popular Princess of Wales to promote.
The group revealed they had already filmed a pilot episode and claimed “Amazon Prime interested” if they could successfully get the series off the ground.
“Tin[dall]’s obviously got good connections … we could have Catherine meeting the team, the Princess of Wales. These are all massive pipe dreams,” Payne quipped.