Zara and Mike Tindall share plans to emigrate ‘far from families’ amid royal row

I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! star Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips have opened up about their dream of moving to ‘unserious’ Australia amid the latest royal scandal.

The royal couple admitted they’ve said “numerous times if we weren’t living in England, we’d love living there” as they teased the possibility of following in the footsteps of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and fleeing the country to start a new life for themselves abroad.

“Australians have a great sense of humour, they like a bit of banter, they don’t mind having a go at each other, they don’t take each other too seriously… and I’m all about that,” said Mike in a bombshell new interview.

Mike and Zara discussing a possible move Down Under comes amid a tricky time for their famous family, as Omid Scobie’s new book Endgame rocks the monarchy and their devoted fans. Scobie, who denies being a close friend of Meghan Markle but is often described as a “mouthpiece” for the Duchess of Sussex, details an alleged power struggle between King Charles and Prince William in his new literary offering.

But it’s one particular version of the book that’s causing the real drama, after thousands of copies of a Dutch version of the book were pulled for identifying those who allegedly expressed concern over Harry’s son Archie’s skin colour. Piers Morgan named the two senior royals named in the Dutch version of Endgame while presenting his live TalkTV show on Wednesday night.

Amid the drama, an interview with both Mike and Zara has been published and revealed how much the couple would like to leave England and set up a home together in Australia. “We’ve said numerous times if we weren’t living in England, we’d love living there,” Mike told The Weekly.

“Living there isn’t realistic because it’s so far away from our families but we do love it,” he continued. “We’ve got a great friendship group in Australia and Zara has one in New Zealand as well. We just love that part of the world and love the pace of life. Australians have a great sense of humour, they like a bit of banter, they don’t mind having a go at each other, they don’t take each other too seriously… and I’m all about that.”

The former rugby player and the late Queen’s granddaughter famously met Down Under 20 years ago and see the country as “a second home”. The loved-up pair bumped into each other in a Sydney bar while Mike competed in England’s successful World Cup campaign in Oz back in 2003.

Zara was travelling across Australia when she decided to call into a local bar to watch the semi-final, where Mike was also catching the game alongside some teammates after being dropped from the line-up. “Clive (Woodward, the coach) had just told me I was dropped for the semi-final, so I went out for a beer with two others who weren’t playing, Martin Corry and Austin Healey,” Mike explained when recalling how he met his now-wife.

Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2011, he continued to reveal: “Zara was in the same bar; we got introduced but didn’t speak that much. Later on, Austin gave me her number and said, ‘She wants you to text her, to say where you’re all going out after the final so she can come along’.”

The following year it was confirmed the pair were dating and they eventually went on to marry on July 30, 2011 at Edinburgh’s Canongate Kirk, just three months after Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. During the service the bride rejected traditional wedding vows, promising to “honour” and not “obey” her groom. The late Queen’s eldest granddaughter also chose to keep her maiden name of Phillips after the marriage.

The couple currently live in a property on the Gatcombe Park estate, Gloucestershire, owned by Princess Anne, with their three children.

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