Zara Tindall and Mike joking about baby names says expert
Zara, 39, is pregnant with their third child and Mike admitted on his rugby podcast he is hoping for a boy after having two daughters: Mia, six, and Lena, two. However, the couple have already discussed their children’s schooling, which the rugby player has strong opinions about. The Queen’s granddaughter followed in the footsteps of her uncles, cousins and brother to attend Gordonstoun in Scotland and she loved it there.
However, her husband Mike has insisted they will not be sending their children to boarding school.
He once said: “I’m certainly not keen on sending Mia away to a boarding school at the other end of the country.”
He added: “I know many people who say boarding school was the making of them because they forged great independence from their parents, but I don’t really want her to be distanced from us.”
The former England rugby captain, who attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield, added: “My school was a public one and plenty of my mates lived in, but I was just a day student and it definitely didn’t do me any harm.
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Zara Tindall and Mike Tindall are expecting their third child this year (Image: GETTY)
Zara and her brother Peter Phillips at Gordonstoun in 1990 (Image: GETTY)
“If anything, I enjoyed the best of both worlds.
“Personally, I’d rather she attend a school that’s nearby, where we’ll always be on hand if she needs us.
“Anything else goes against my instincts”.
Mike made these comments to the Daily Mail diary editor at the Abbey Road studios in 2016, when Mia was their only child.
Zara Tindall and her daughter Mia (Image: GETTY)
However, it stands to reason that the same will apply to their younger daughter Lena, born in 2018, and the new baby, which is due this year.
At the time, Mike was supporting a fundraising event for children’s charity Hope and Homes.
Mia was two and had recently melted hearts in the Queen’s 90th birthday portrait, flashing a cheeky grin as she held her great-grandmother’s handbag.
There are a number of excellent schools near where the Tindalls live on the Gatcombe Park Estate in Gloucestershire.
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Zara Tindall and her daughter Lena (Image: GETTY)
Mike Tindall and his daughter Mia (Image: GETTY)
Zara and Mike have not discussed publicly which school they are sending their six-year-old to, but either way she will be studying from home at the moment.
Mike opened up last year on what it was like having to homeschool Mia, saying it was “nice but also frustrating” because children listen to teachers more than parents.
He also said he thought it was important for children to have “some independence”, despite his previous comments about boarding school.
Mike said: “Zara still has hopes that the horses will get back, they still need training and working on, so I get to be a teacher in the mornings which is sometimes really nice, sometimes really frustrating.
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“I don’t think any child is a great ‘homeschooler’ because they definitely listen to other people better than they listen to their parents.
“Mia enjoyed it the first week because it’s different being around Mum and Dad all the time.
“But then ultimately it’s the same people who are telling her off or telling her what to do and I think she gets bored of that.”
Mike also said they were missing Zara’s mother Princess Anne, who lives at Gatcombe Park too, as well as his own parents, who live in West Yorkshire.
Mike Tindall and his daughter Lena (Image: GETTY)
Anne, who turned 70 last year, has been apparently busy with her charity work despite the numerous coronavirus restrictions.
Mike said the family were taking as many photos as possible of Lena so the grandparents can see her changes when lockdown is lifted.
Mike also joked that they would name their third child after the coronavirus, saying: “We’re not sure what to do, Covi or Covina.”
Speaking on his podcast The Good, the Bad and the Rugby, he added: “I would like a boy, but I will love it whether it’s a boy or a girl. But… please be a boy!”
