Mike Tindall on “This Morning” on November 6, 2025; Prince Harry at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on April 9, 2025.Credit : Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock; Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

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Mike Tindall joked about Prince Harry “when he was fun” during a live appearance at the Hay Literary Festival
The royal family member also made a quip about the former Prince Andrew while discussing Buckingham Palace life
Mike’s comments come amid the ongoing rift between Prince Harry and the royal family

British royal family member Mike Tindall made a rare public remark about Prince Harry and the former Prince Andrew while speaking at a live event.

Retired rugby player Mike is married to Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall and dropped the comments while appearing at Hay Literary Festival in Powys, Wales, this week, where he spoke alongside his The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast cohosts James Haskell and Alex Payne.

While reminiscing about his 2011 wedding to Zara, Mike, 47, joked that he was surprised that his pal Haskell didn’t embarrass himself at their royal nuptials.

“A lot of other people managed that way better than you – [like] Harry, when he was fun,” Mike said, according to Hello! magazine.

Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and Prince William attend the wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall at Canongate Kirk on July 30, 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland.Indigo/Getty

Prince Harry, 41, and Zara, 44, are first cousins and grew up together in the royal fold as grandchildren of by Queen Elizabeth.

The fracture between Prince Harry and the royal family has cast a long shadow over the monarchy in recent years. Since stepping back as a senior working royal alongside Meghan Markle in 2020, Harry has spoken candidly about tensions within the institution, most notably in the couple’s 2021 Oprah Interview interviews, Netflix docuseries and the Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare.

Professional equestrian Zara and Mike wed in Edinburgh, Scotland in July 2011 in a celebration attended by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, the future King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince William, Kate Middleton and many other members of the royal family.

The Tindalls share three children, Mia, 12, Lena, 7, and Lucas, 5. Harry is a godfather to Lena, who turns 8 in June.

Mike Tindall, Lena Tindall and Zara Tindall at the Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk on December 25, 2025.Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty

Former England rugby union star Mike also referred to the former Prince Andrew several times during the talk.

Payne said at the festival that Mike has his own “bedroom at Buckingham Palace,” prompting Mike to reply, “Opposite end to Andrew though,” Hello! reports.

The former Duke of York is Zara’s uncle and is now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after King Charles stripped his royal titles in October 2025 as his links to the late Jeffrey Epstein came under renewed scrutiny.

Prince Andrew departs after the Requiem Mass service for the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral on September 16, 2025 in London.Karwai Tang/WireImage

Andrew’s relationship with the late American financier and convicted sex offender, who died while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, set his stepping back from public life in motion in 2019. Andrew has strenuously denied any wrongdoing regarding their relationship.

In 2022, Queen Elizabeth stripped her second son of his military titles and patronages after a judge rejected his attempt to have Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s sexual assault lawsuit against him dismissed. He then settled with Giuffre out of court for an undisclosed sum.

In February of this year, unrelated to the sexual assault allegations, Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office as authorities investigate a claim that he shared confidential information with Epstein while serving as a U.K. trade envoy.

On May 22, police announced that they are now investigating claims of sexual misconduct.