The other royal wedding: Zara Phillips & Mike Tindall are getting married tomorrow

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There’s another royal wedding going down this weekend, but don’t expect some big, exciting, over-the-top affair. *Sniff* Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne, is marrying her love Mike Tindall, a professional rugby player. Zara isn’t really royal – her mother may be a princess, but Anne married a commoner who didn’t want to take a title, and Anne raised her children as “commoners”. However, it’s said that Zara has always been one of the Queen’s favorites amongst her grandchildren. Zara is horsey and athletic and tough, just like her mom. As for Mike… well, he’s got the bent nose, and he comes from a “working class” background, but he seems to have just a pure love for Zara that really comes through in photos and interviews. They’re kind of adorable together! CB loves them too, by the way. All of a sudden, Zara is one of our favorite people. Anyway, HuffPo summarizes some of the details about the wedding, which is going down tomorrow in Scotland:

Although she counts Princess Anne as her mother, Zara Phillips and her fiance Mike Tindall are famously as far from the royal mindset as they come. As Zara’s future mother-in-law Linda Tindall told the Daily Mail, “Many-a-time Mike has said if she worked at Tesco [supermarket] at the checkout it would not matter, it’s about her and the sort of person she is.”

But while Phillips has been accepted into the Tindall clan with ease, acclimating Tindall to his new royal relatives has been harder. The Telegraph reports that Princess Anne suggested he have corrective surgery on his nose, which is slightly misshapen from repeated sports injuries. “She’s a bit worried about how the wedding photos might turn out,” the Telegraph revealed.

She needn’t worry too much, as the photos will most likely not be seen by the general public: as previously noted, Buckingham Palace thwarted Phillips’ plans to sell wedding day photos to tabloid magazine Hello! for over $800,000.

Instead, Phillips and Tindall’s nuptials this Saturday will be private, more of “a family thing” than a royal event, says the BBC.

Owing to Zara’s non-royal status (while her mother has a royal title, she and her brother Peter do not), the wedding is being independently funded, with even the royal reception venue, Holyroodhouse in Scotland, being paid for out of pocket by Zara’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Tindall’s guests will include many fellow rugby players, while Phillips has invited members of her equestrian community.

“She regards herself as a sportswoman not as a royal. She would even dispute the fact it’s a royal wedding,” said Joe Little, editor of Majesty magazine to the BBC.

Added royal historian Hugo Vickers, “I wouldn’t say he is marrying into the royal family, rather she is marrying out of the royal family.”

There is one indisputably royal element of the wedding: Friday night’s pre-party on the famous Royal Yacht Britannia. Once described by Queen Elizabeth II as “the one place I can truly relax,” the Royal Yacht Britannia is 83rd in a line of royal yachts and has seen Winston Churchill, Mahatma Ghandi, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan and Nelson Mandela (to name a few) come aboard its decks, writes the Telegraph.

More importantly, the Telegraph noted, four royal couples have bunked in the yacht’s honeymoon suite after their weddings…and all have been doomed to failure: Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon sailed in 1960, Zara’s mum Princess Anne and father Captain Mark Phillips shared the room in 1973, Charles and Diana honeymooned in 1981, and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson used the boat for their honeymoon in 1986.

Looks like Zara and Mike’s reported lack of honeymoon might actually be a blessing in disguise. Phillips and Tindall will forgo a honeymoon as the groom returns to rugby training camp on Sunday night, writes the Telegraph.

[From Huffington Post]

Mike also discussed Zara’s fiery personality, saying that he‘s the unemotional one: “The fire and ice thing is true to a certain extent. Being angry doesn’t come naturally to me. Zara isn’t like that. She’ll say how she feels and show her emotions. To start with, people wondered whether our backgrounds were too different – but it’s not a problem… [The royal family are] good, fun people – all of them. They’re just a normal family.” He also said something that is making a little bit weepy – talking about how they aren’t doing their honeymoon right away because they’ve got athletic events scheduled, Mike said: “But that’s the way we like our lives. Low-key, with lots of sport and as much time together as possible. I’m looking forward to Zara being my wife. Is that soppy enough?” Aw…

Look how adorable they are with each other! Also: Zara has, like, a Kardashian ass. Oh, and I included one of Princess Anne, because THAT HAIR needs to go.

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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52 Responses to “The other royal wedding: Zara Phillips & Mike Tindall are getting married tomorrow”

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  1. dj says:

    I love this wedding. I have always thought Zara was the most interesting one. Also, the pretty one. It’s great she is marrying someone who shares her interests in sports. Rugby. That dude is tough.

  2. Hanh says:

    I love that she’s not a waif and that they look so happy together! Such a contrast to Prince Albert and Princess Charlene who look like they might be ill standing next to each other.

  3. heb says:

    Wow, the Queen has a big smile on her face when she’s shaking Tindall’s hand–thats impressive!

  4. vicky says:

    Congrats! They look happy.

  5. sure_fine_whatever says:

    You can sense they are happy unlike so many of the celebrity couples of royals.

  6. Bitchbelying says:

    His nose looks painful. Ok so he’s not fixing the nose, what about the teeth?

    They look good together though, good for them.

  7. Mr. Greek says:

    Zara Phillips is a very attractive woman! It is said that she and her brother are very genuine, down to earth people, and I believe it. Princess Anne sure as hell did a fine job as mum to her kids. I also think this marriage is the real deal; their facial and body language says it all. Congrats to the obviously happy couple.

    Segway: For all that she was, and she was certainly larger than life, it’s said that the late Princess Margaret was a great mum to her two, Sarah and David – two reportedly very nice people.

  8. Alix says:

    But damn, the Princess Royal’s hair helmet!

  9. spinner says:

    awwww…so sweet. I can feel the love.

  10. Jillian says:

    She is the best looking one I’ve seen out of that family. She must take after her father.

  11. Call Me Al says:

    she’s very pretty and he’s very masculine but cute. they sound like a couple to watch — keep us posted!

  12. really says:

    Very much CONGRATULATIONS! She is pretty is a very plain way.

  13. inthekitchen says:

    For some reason I just can’t warm up to her but can’t figure out what it is about her that bugs.

  14. fuefinawg says:

    Why are the British so opposed to fixing their teeth?

  15. Jane says:

    Princess Anne offspring, especially Zara, are the best looking royals related to the Queen by blood. I know, Zara doesn’t have a title, but I still think of her as royal because her great grandmother, grandmother and her mother are royal. I especially feel she is royal if she has to abide by what Buckingham Palace tells her to do.

    Princess Anne needs a make over, big time. She dresses and does her hair like an old woman.

  16. Kiki says:

    I love this girl

  17. Dany says:

    AWWWW… 🙂
    They really seem to be happy with each other and I wish them both all the best.

    And look at Lizzy’s BIG smile as she welcomes her future Grandson in law! I love it!! 😀

  18. Chrissy says:

    Forget the nose, fix his teeth!! Or never be photographed with your mouth open! Scary!!!!

    Hope for nothing but good things for this couple. And perhaps some free dental work for him. ;0)

  19. bluhare says:

    I love these two, I really do. She’s a very lucky woman; I think he’s true husband material. He obviously adores her, and the way she looks at him the feeling’s mutual. I read another interview with him, and he said that Anne had said that about his nose, but he said he isn’t fixing anything until he’s done playing rugby. He was England’s captain, and he’s trying to make the World Cup team. He also says he doesn’t like to watch her ride because he’s afraid she’ll get hurt (and this from a rugby player!).

    Gosh, I haven’t gone on this goofily about people in ages!!!

  20. Erin says:

    Wow – bitchy comments about the teeth LOL! I find him rugged and I find her pretty. They seem real together and I like that approach better then the no PDA approach by Will and Kate. Best of luck to them!

  21. Mary Jane says:

    The “big ass” (hardly) comes from years of equestrian sport. I’m 5’3″ and 110 lbs and had a big ass (for my body-type) when I rode horses…
    Princess Anne and Mark seem to have done a great job! CUTE couple — I wish them the best!

  22. eternalcanadian says:

    I really like this couple. I also really like Zara’s brother Peter with Autumn (a Canadian–and their daughter is the first Canadian in line to the throne ever!!). They all are very approachable and hold hands in public and stuff. Normal people that just happen to have Queen Elizabeth as a grandmother or grandmother-in-law!

    William and Catherine still have that aloof “we’re not touching because royals don’t do that” although when on tour in Canada and LA, William did touch Catherine a lot but it was more like “come on” or “time to go” or “go over there” than “we’re together” like Zara and Mike. That hug after the dragon boat was like the only real PDA I saw but there was still something awkward about it.

    I don’t like Eugenie or Beatrice. I sort of like Harry, and since William married Catherine I don’t like him much because I find him a bit of a hypocrite and just plain weird now along with Catherine.

    So I have hopes for Zara and Peter and their families. Even though their parents Anne and Mark messed up, their partners Autumn and Mike come from stable and happy families, so hopefully Zara and Peter don’t make the same mistakes Anne and Mark did.

    Wish I could say the same about William, Harry, Beatrice, and Eugenie. Those four are a bit messed up, and even with William marrying Catherine he’s still messed up and looking for a mother figure which means he probably will stray once the kids arrive. There’s also hope for Edward and Sophie and their children, but Louise and James are still young yet.

    I’m looking forward to seeing Zara’s wedding dress! I hope it is young and sexy, unlike Catherine’s dress which was so old-fashioned and plain.

    What I found really surprising and a bit of a hypocrisy is the Royals (aka the Queen) didn’t allow Zara and Mike to share pictures of their wedding for money. $800,000 would go a long way to paying bills and stuff! What’s their problem? Peter and Autumn did that, but hoity-toity William was so pissed off he went to Africa to hang out with Jecca Craig at her brother’s wedding instead of going to Peter’s wedding and Peter is supposedly like William’s best buddy next to Harry.

    So yeah, that’s part of why I find William weird along with Charles, Camilla, and the Queen when it comes to making money off pictures of themselves, etc. I mean for heaven’s sake the Queen is making money off the creepy Catherine wedding exhibit. So how is that different from what Zara and Mike wanted to do? Even if it was just Mike and Zara along with anyone who gave permission to be in the pictures what’s their issue? Zara and Mike don’t have parents that make millions of dollars a year and they don’t have inheritances that will have them set for life like Charles, William and Harry do. Geez. *rolls eyes*

    So yeah, Team Zara and Mike! 😉

  23. Elizabeth says:

    I’m with Princess Anne on this one – guy needs to have his nose fixed. Or at least make the attempt to have it fixed.

  24. Kimble says:

    Capt Mark Phillips was a very handsome man, but was known as “foggy” as he didn’t have a lot going on upstairs!!!

    Princess Anne chose well to ensure she had good looking kids!

  25. Mitch Buchanan Rocks says:

    I agree with Hahn, this couple looks happy, Albert & Charlene looked like they were afraid of catching eachothers cooties.

  26. Seal Team 6 says:

    Princess Anne refused titles for her children. I was wondering if HM would bestow something on her favorite grandchild (by all accounts) before the wedding, but I guess not.

    Good for both of them. She and her brother and Princess Margaret’s children seem, by far, the nost “normal” of the Royals.

  27. Seal Team 6 says:

    Also, wtf??? “Big ass”???

    Although I don’t ride, I have a friend who does, competitively, for about 30 years. She is 40 and has glutes of iron, as I suspect Zara does. She’s an Olympic-caliber equestrian, like her mother. I’d love to have her ass and legs.

    Oh, and her cheekbones.

  28. eternalcanadian says:

    @TGIF1: Ah, perhaps Peter and Autumn should have said something before the photos were published. Even so if Zara and Mike let them know and agreed to only use certain pictures then why the “no go”? Just seems kind of unfair because Peter and Autumn effed up then Zara and Mike can’t take advantage of earning some cash.

  29. Violet says:

    He looks like a thug, but has the sweetest smile. They seem very happy and down-to-earth. I wish them all the best!

  30. Andie B says:

    @fuefinawg – I don’t think the British are opposed to fixing their teeth as a whole people. Just like anywhere in the world, there will be people who don’t prioritise having white, straight, perfect teeth above all else.
    Zara has one crooked tooth..not a biggie..her man’s teeth are a mess, but if he showed up to Rugby practice with a mouth full of shiny white perfect veneers, he would be laughed off the field. I think these two are a great couple, and can’t wait to get a look at the wedding dress.

  31. ZenB!tch says:

    She does *NOT* have a Lardassian ass. She has a lovely natural ass. She’s a beautiful healthy natural young woman. Congrats to both of them. I <3 rugby. Don’t know much about it but I watch it when it randomly appears on ESPN. Its a fun sport to watch: soccer with real men.

  32. ZenB!tch says:

    PS: James Franco’s teeth offend me more. They are totally yellow. Mike’s are crooked but a lot less dingy. I also tend to judge American teeth more harshly than English teeth.

    Is he still playing? I wouldn’t touch the teeth or the nose or anything else until he is 100% retired. Things will just get broken again.

  33. Carolyn says:

    Golly Zara and Mike have been together for so long I thought they were already married. A strong relationship. Whilst the Queen’s sons are nuffnuffs, good to see Anne put things right with her children. Compare Zara and Peter to Beatrice & Eugenie…they’re chalk and cheese. It’s all down to good parenting.

  34. penguin says:

    Mike did have a nose job, but it got rebroken during a rugby match. Apparently the queen wanted him to get it fixed for the wedding but he wants to wait til he retires.

  35. The Original Ashley says:

    This wedding is actually more exciting that the other one. Zara has always come off as a down to earth person, speaks her mind and doesn’t give a toss about who her grandmother is, it’s refreshing.

  36. seal team 6 says:

    @Carolyn —

    I know Prince Charles has said before that his sister would be a much better monarch than he will be, but even if she could be, she wouldn’t want to be.

  37. lola lola says:

    OMG, please, Zara, Get his teeth fixed! They are really gross.

  38. It is ME!! says:

    I always thought Zara was the prettiest “royal.” She is far more beautiful than Kate or her over-rated sister, Pippa.

  39. Anonymous says:

    Kate looks rather pasty, could she be pregnant???..

  40. Luise says:

    My Goodness, Princess Anne is just one terrible looking woman. I can’t believe she wants Mike to get his nose fixed when she needs a facelift, a major chin implant and a nose job herself!!! Mike is cute rugged and appears to be very sweet….which is not an adjective you could use for any of the royals nor any one who married one of them.

  41. Devon says:

    Congrats to Mike and Zara! The younger generation fo Royals seem to have it figured out when it comes to who they marry. Will and Kate were together for almost 10 years, Mike and Zara have been together for AGES and Peter and Autumn were together for a good 5 years before marrying. All 3 couples seem to have a genuine love for each other. I hope their day was exactly what they wanted it to be.

  42. Máiread says:

    I am dying to see the photos of this wedding. Zara always had the most interesting dress sense out of the younger royals.. She seems like a decent sort, and has been on the Sports Council for years. Both herself and her mother were Olympic athletes, if memory serves.

    @Luise, Princess Anne was a handsome woman when she was very young. She just pathologically not vain from what I can see.

  43. Carolyn says:

    Agree @Mairead. It’s bizarre….all of the Queen’s children (Charles, Edward, Andrew and Anne) were very good looking when young. Look at Charles & Diana’s wedding photos to see it. The chaps haven’t aged well at all and looks/being trendy are far from Anne’s priorities. Yes Anne was on the Olympic horse riding team and she has done an extraordinary amount of charity work over the years (Save the Children springs to mind). I’m looking forward to the photos of this wedding too! Thanks CB for featuring Zara & Mike. PS I had forgotten how nice-looking both Peter & Zara are – take that Eugenie & Beatrice!

  44. badrockandroll says:

    I am willing to cut Anne a whole lot of slack on her style, because of all of Liz’s kids, she is the only one who does not appear to be dotty, criminal or fey. She seems quite smart, & quite b!tchy in a way that many readers of this site would probably appreciate. I saw a pic of her when she let her hair down – literally – practically to her waist.

    And google pics of young Liz and Phil: they were gorgeous! And if you can find one of him waterski-ing before the marriage, hubbah, you can see where Harry gets it from. But Philip appears to have lost his mind recently, and he seems quite out of it.

  45. Lushus L. says:

    Was Fergie snubbed yet again?

  46. khaveman says:

    I would have him fix that nose only because it’s doubtful he can breathe at all through it! Poor guy. It’s smashed up.

  47. gg says:

    I love Zara, and I am totally with @ZenB!tch – she DOES NOT have a Kardashian ass! there is no fat down there with all that exercising she does. I think she’s gorgeous and fun. I’ve been watching her for ages and love her.

  48. she is look preety good and beautiful – with good smile

  49. Mona says:

    This wedding is actually more exciting that the other one.

  50. alexander says:

    Tell Mike to get his teeth capped it looks like a graveyard. My wife would’nt kiss me with garbage like that in my mouth

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  52. Really? says:

    Okay, this is a shallow observation, but this is Celebitchy, after all …

    When people comment on how pretty/gorgeous/beautiful Zara Phillips is, are they making this judgment strictly in relation to the other British royal grandchildren?

    Because apparently, I’m not wearing the glasses everyone else is wearing. Granted, her cheekbones are killer. And she looks like a tough gal — I like tough gals. I much prefer them over weepy, soppy, high-maintenance ones. But on the whole, I don’t see how she can be considered really attractive. Even when she’s all dolled up. Beauty is, of course, strictly in the eye of the beholder, but in my case, I certainly wouldn’t give myself whiplash trying to get another look if she walked past me on the street. Talented? Yes. Unostentatious? Yes. Down-to-earth and decent? Seemingly.

    But attractive? Sorry.

    Just my opinion.

    All of the above aside, Phillips and Tindall look lovely and very happy together — good on them!