Princess Anne’s Harsh Comment on Mike Tindall’s Nose Before Marrying Zara Phillips – Rugby Pro’s Remarkable Payback Years Later

Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall had a beautiful wedding ceremony. They exchanged vows and shared a sweet kiss on the steps of Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland on a sunny day in July 2011.

But Princess Anne allegedly had one gripe about her beloved daughter’s big day – her son-in-law’s nose.

Mike Tindall’s history with breaking his nose dates back to when he was just five years old. During a ride on a dodgem car, the seatbelt malfunctioned causing him to bump his head on the steering wheel, resulting in his first broken nose.

Throughout his rugby career spanning 12 years, the sturdy Lancashire native experienced broken noses on multiple occasions. His teammates affectionately referred to his nasal injuries as resembling a map of the Pennines due to the number of breaks he endured.

So the Princess Royal asked her future son-in-law whether he would consider a rhinoplasty before his big day – a procedure she would happily pay for.

‘Princess Anne asked me if I’d have the surgery,’ the former centre confirmed to Sky One sports quiz A League of Their Own in 2011.

But Mike declined the generous offer as the Rugby World Cup was around the corner and there was a strong chance he would break his nose again.

He married Zara, an accomplished sportswoman herself, in front of the Royal Family with his signature squashed snout proudly in place.

Defending Anne’s suggestion to the Radio Times in November 2011 after his dreamy wedding, Mike said: ‘It was a light-hearted, jokey comment.

‘It wasn’t a big deal, and look at my nose – can you blame her?’

But the former rugby pro would get his own back years later by going under the knife purely for medical purposes, rather than to satisfy his mother-in-law’s aesthetic preferences.

‘My actual words to the surgeon were, “I just want you to clear my airways and the less you straighten it the better”,’ he told the Daily Telegraph in 2018.

Before the corrective procedure, Mike’s nose sat at a 45 degree angle and both of his nostrils were collapsed, meaning he could only breathe out of his mouth. 

‘I loved my nose,’ he told the publication. ‘I didn’t really want to change it but it got to the point where I couldn’t breathe properly.

‘I couldn’t smell properly, my sinuses were blocked, I was getting so many headaches and it was affecting my sleep.’

The rugby star turned pundit previously described his difficulty to breath to the Daily Mirror as ‘similar to a pug’.

Mike debuted his new beak just days before attending Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in May 2018.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain after the procedure, he said: ‘I think considering the size it was before, the surgeon had to call in some demolition specialists.

‘He’s done a good job, it’s nice being able to smell the flowers.’

But it turns out Princess Anne was not bothered by his crooked nose any more, with the former England captain revealing to Hello! that the royals didn’t spot his new snout for six weeks.

‘I would say that I had it done six weeks before anyone actually noticed,’ he told the magazine. ‘It was fine, exactly the reaction I wanted.’

Despite her delayed reaction to his nose job, Mike is close with his mother-in-law Princess Anne and the pair have been known to banter back and forth.

With Anne proudly serving as the patron of Scottish Rugby since 1986, Mike recalled rubbing an England win in her face as she presented him with a trophy at Twickenham.

Speaking to Closer Magazine, the 46-year-old said: ‘Most fellas want to get something over on their mother-in-law. 

‘It’s quite niche if you’re the captain of the England team and you play Scotland at Twickenham and, when you win, you’re receiving the trophy from your mother-in-law. 

‘I don’t like the majority of the RFU (Rugby Football Union), but I shook every one of their hands and I kept her waiting.’

The Princess Royal was not impressed by her son-in-law’s antics, telling him to speed up with his celebrations. 

Tindall said: ‘She was like, “Move on, Michael”. I was like, “Debrief over lunch tomorrow?’ And she said, “Move on, Michael”.’

During his time on the 2022 series of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, the rugby icon told his campmates about another hilarious interaction he had with his mother-in-law.

At his wife’s 30th birthday party, which was naturally disco-themed, Mike said he ripped his ‘quite tight’ flared trousers in front of his mother-in-law when he went all out on the dance floor and performed a ‘s*** drop’.

To his horror, the rip revealed his boxers which read: ‘Nibble my nuts.’

Famously quick-witted, Anne read the innuendo on her son-in-law’s drawers and replied: ‘I’d rather not.’