Keep Calm & Carry On!

Zara’s stable example

- Judy Kean

While her cousins, uncle and brother have been in strife and making headlines, one member of the royal family is getting on with business as usual.

Zara Tindall and her immediate family are thriving, and royal watchers say her relatives would do well to take a leaf out of her book when it comes to the no-nonsense way she copes.

“Zara is fortunate in that she doesn’t have the responsibilities her cousins, Prince William and Prince Harry, have to deal with,” says one commentator. “And not having a royal title – and the baggage that can come with it – is something for which she should be very grateful to her mother, Princess Anne.

“But she also has a strong marriage, she’s a hard worker and she has got her head screwed on. It wouldn’t be a surprise if other members of the family look at her and wish they too had life under control to the extent that she does.”

Most of Zara’s time is taken up with her abiding passion – horses – and her daughters Mia (6) and Lena (21 months).

Husband Mike Tindall is a great partner and dad, say sources close tp the couple. Despite hiccups in the early days of their marriage, when he was seen getting cosy with a friend during a visit to a Queenstown bar, they have a very strong relationship.

“They are often spotted being affectionate to each other, including in public – PDAs are not a problem for them,” says one royal commentator.

The couple met in a bar in Australia during the 2003 Rugby World Cup, where former England rugby international Mike was drowning his sorrows after learning he’d been dropped from the England squad before the semi-finals.