Zara Phillips-Tindall was something of a “wild child” in her teenage years and even into her early 20s. It was mostly fine with people because she doesn’t have a title and because Princess Anne didn’t seem to have much of a problem with her daughter’s “wild” streak. At some point, Zara got a tongue stud, although she doesn’t still have it. Well, now that Zara is all grown up and a mom of two daughters, how would she feel if Mia or Lena Tindall grew up to be “wild” too? Turns out, Zara wouldn’t be happy about it at all.
Zara Tindall has shared that she would be “horrified” if one of her daughters got a tattoo, even though she was dubbed a “wild child” for having her tongue pierced as a teen. The royal mum-of-two, 38, said it would be hard to complain if they did rebel once they grew up. Zara hit headlines after she was pictured with the tongue accessory, after paying £35 to get it done when she was at Gordonstoun boarding school in Scotland. However, she admits she draws the line at tattoos.
She told next month’s Saga Magazine: “[Mike] absolutely hasn’t got a tattoo. I’d also rather one of my daughters came home with a piercing than a tattoo because at least a stud can be removed. I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if they did though.”
While life is certainly not a struggle when your grandmother is the Queen, Zara and Mike have a relatively down-to-earth life on her mother Princess Anne’s Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucester., according to a royal source. When they do enjoy a Saturday date night out in their local pubs, their two kids, Mia Grace, five, and Lena Elizabeth, one, are watched over by Princess Anne, 69.
I get the feeling that Mike Tindall has very specific ideas about how they’re raising their daughters and Zara isn’t going to fight him on it. Like, Mike has said that their girls won’t be sent off to boarding school, which is the “royal tradition.” I bet Mike is also the one saying “no tattoos, no piercings, no wild child drama.” And Zara is sitting there quietly like “hey, it’s in their blood, at least one of them will probably end up a wild child.” I could have sworn that Zara had some tattoos too, but I guess not? Maybe that’s the big no-no for all royals and royal-adjacents. No tattoos! Which is sad – Zara is an Olympian and I love when Olympians get Olympic rings tattoos.
Photos courtesy of WENN and Celebrity Cup at Celtic Manor Resort/WENN.com.
Ha ha. Horrified she may be but we all learn the hard way, they are individuals and will assert their independence, like it or not. And while I may give out the advice, it’s a bitter pill to swallow with my own 🤦🏻♀️
LOL. This is why when I was in college I got my eyebrow pierced… and neglected to tell my mother until I got home for thanksgiving or some other holiday. I did however tell my dad and he was like ‘sure sure, but no tongue piercings mouths are so germy and you could screw up nerves’ and that was that. Mom refused to look at it until I was leaving to go back to school. In the end it didn’t last anyway, my body rejected it. And I think she was super pleased about that.
I have two tattoos, but I have the ability to hide them. The next one might not go that way, but either way – they’re both very tasteful and done by GOOD artists. I think that’s something more parents should worry about – like “I don’t want you to get a tattoo. But if you’re dead set on getting one, expect to pay A LOT and go to someone who’s SUPER qualified” because at the end of the day, that’s SO important. I see so many bad tattoos. I’d be a lot less upset at the idea of my kid getting a really good one done in a very sanitary shop than sneaking and getting some shoddy one.
Completely agree with you, Erinn! I have one amazing one and one not so amazing one, and to get a cover up done on the not so great one, I have to laser it off a bit first and that is NOT FUN. Quality all the way.
I also grew up with super conservative parents and felt like I had to hide things like trying a first drink, etc, and if I had kids I would want to be able to talk to them about that stuff so they could be safe and equipped to make the best possible choice for them.
I really really want one but two problems: I am PETRIFIED of needles and pain. So the two together are double red flags. And second, I don’t commit to well. I know a few years down the road I’ll be like: uhhhh, maybe I should have gotten that unicorn instead (JK with the unicorn).
My college defiance was a second piercing on my ears. Yeah, a rebel aren’t I????
And yes, I see a lot of bad tattoos. We were at a swim meet and one mom had it on her lower back. And it looked like a bad drawing. All I could think was: why? And then: why don’t you cover that up????
I’ve decided to stop at two. Both have special, connected meanings to me (although I like the look of the one I got in 2016 better). It’s a good thing I couldn’t get one as a minor and waited a while, because the ones I wanted then were kind of dumb.
People can be so weird with tattoos. I have five, and I do regret some (none of them are big so). It’s not even something I think about ever. Do I wish it wasn’t there? Yes, but I’m not crying about it. We don’t live forever. In 100 years, will I care about a tattoo on my corpse? Nah. It kinda sounds like Mike doesn’t find tattoos feminine. How would you even control that after they turn 18?
I’m biased though because I love tattoos, I think they look really cool on people.
I have 3, quite big tattoos on my arms and I’m almost 23 now. Everytime I added one, my parents would tell me “you won’t have any other right?” Lol
But I think my parents are more worried about how it could be perceived in a work environment (France is still a bit conservative depending what type of job you do).
But yeah… Parents, just deal with it. It’s just skin. And personally, having tattoos make me feel more confident and more in control of my own body.
If my kids got tattoos too young I would be sad. Because I’ve seen too many people regret the tattoos they got before they were fully developed (like 21, right? Is that when you finally stop being impulsive and make weighted decisions? Whatever age it’s also safe to smoke pot, there’s a change in the brain). Anyone have a tattoo from when they were a teenager that they still love? I’m curious!
Anyway, I’ve seen too many very regretted teenage tattoos. And I’ve seen many full town adults get tattoos and have no regrets because it’s a true representation of their own self, you know what I mean?
So maybe just urge your kids to hold off until they are older on such a long term decision. I don’t like when people put some “moral” issue into tattoos. People’s bodies are their own, people’s lives are their own. Tattoos are both cultural in some cases, and deeply individual in others. No need to judge. Personally I will not ever get a tattoo but it’s entirely a decision from within my own identity and sense of self. As should everyone’s decision with body modification be. If it’s adult bodies we are talking about here then it’s no one’s place to judge. And hello, many tattoos are just gorgeous and interesting and awesome.
OK thank you for coming to my ted talk.
That’s my thinking too – wait until you’re old enough to be sure it’s something you want forever. What I would have chosen at 16/17/18 – ugh!
I would get bored with them and as I evolved, I’m sure I would have wished they were something else so I never bothered. I am very happy I don’t have any.
I got my first at 19 and I still love it (just turned 44). It’s on my foot, it’s held up really well, and I chose something I knew I wouldn’t regret – it’s a detail from a poster for a play that used to hang in our house, my dad saw it while in the UK for grad school.
Kinda random, but I am also 44 and got a tattoo at 19, its on my ankle. I just chose some random flash off the wall but I still like it after all this time. Its a really great tattoo, too, hasn’t faded or bled.
There’s dermatologist I have been going to since the mid 90s here in Texas (have really reactive skin & basal cell carcinoma in my family – no tattoos for me). During one appointment, he casually mentioned that tattoo laser removal had become the biggest revenue stream / profit center for his practice. It pretty much bankrolled sending both his young children to east coast boarding schools & then on to any of the Ivys when they graduated.
It also surprises me which industries here accept ink & which do not. I know someone who works in security & crowd control – the dress code mandates no visible ink, but many white collar jobs have a more relaxed policy.
Some people in the UK still see tattoos as a class divide so that is possibly the issue rather than any wild behaviour.
When I was at medical school some of the older consultants talked about tattoo:teeth ratio as a way to ascertain social class….
What ??? Crazy!!
don’t be surprised, it was the same way here as recently as the early-mid 90s
I was pretty much raised with the whole Jews don’t get tattoos and, while I didn’t care about anyone else getting them, would have classified myself as someone who’d never so much as consider getting one. Guess who shocked everyone (myself included) by getting a tat this year?
I had my tongue pierced as a teen and I don’t like tattoos at all. I don’t get the point of it and it looks dirty to me. I would be disappointed if my kid(s) got one.
tongue piercings seem EXCRUCIATINGLY painful to me. Did it hurt when you got it done?!
Not while I was getting it (tongue is easy to Pierce as it is tender) but it was awful after for about ten days. The tongue was so swollen I could’nt eat, plus the first barbell you get is very very long (because of the swelling) so you bite it all the time. Then it didn’t healed well so I removed it after 8 months. My tongue is scarred now. If I were to do it again, I would so not, lol
There are two sides to this, some parents don’t want their kids to get tattoos/piercings b/c they’re worried what others will think/stereotype, but there are others who don’t want them to get them b/c they feel they’re beautiful and perfect the just the way they made them. My father was the former, I am the latter, I would be so sad if my beautiful daughter marked her body/exposed herself to possible infection/mutilation. I know its her body, her choice but I would still be sad.
It’s “sad” that an Olympian doesn’t get a tattoo on their body to signify that to show other people? Maybe don’t feel the need to permanently ink their body to show everyone their accomplishments. I really wish people could just live without attention from strangers.
Come on!!!! Shed be horrified if her kid got a tattoo!!! Really??? Why not save the outrage for Uncle Andy?????