Mike Tindall: Princess Kate ‘still plays’ drinking games like ‘Prosecco Pong’

Mike Tindall loves to pretend that he’s the Windsors’ biggest cheerleader, but that man is always making the left-behinds sound like drunken idiots and buffoons. Which… fair enough, I actually believe that many of them are half in the bag or constantly buzzed, and I also believe they’re all buffoons. In late 2023, Mike revealed that his nickname for Prince William is “One Pint Willy” and that William is “not the best of drinkers.” Bless One Pint Willy’s heart, because he does try – he’s constantly boozing it up at events, even morning events. But what about the Princess of Wales? Back in the day, Kate had a love of rum punch and “crack-baby cocktails,” but in March of this year, she said that she rarely drinks these days because of her health trouble. Well, Mike Tindall now says that Kate “still” plays drinking games.

Kate Middleton is always up for a particular drinking game. Retired England rugby union player Mike Tindall, 47, who is married to Prince William’s cousin Zara Tindall, made the claim in a new interview with Woman & Home.

“Sport is rife throughout the family – everyone is competitive. We did a podcast on how much they love sport,” Mike said, according to Hello! magazine, referring to a special 2023 episode of his podcast The Good, The Bad & The Rugby that featured Prince William, Princess Kate and his mother-in-law, Princess Anne.

“I knew that the Princess of Wales was uber competitive because I’d seen her play a drinking game called beer pong, but normally we play Prosecco pong! She still plays it with us,” he said.

In September 2023, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Princess Royal sat down with Mike and his podcast co-hosts for an episode of The Good, The Bad & The Rugby.

The special was filmed in the Green Drawing Room of Windsor Castle and timed to the Rugby World Cup, in which Princess Kate, Prince William and Princess Anne all backed different teams for their roles as patrons of the Rugby Football Union, Welsh Rugby Union and Scottish Rugby Union, respectively. A breakout moment of the conversation was Mike’s playful claim that Princess Kate, 44, was “uber competitive,” evidenced by her prowess at “beer pong” — which she coyly denied.

[From People]

Prosecco Pong? How gauche for Contadina Caterina. Let me tell you something – the royals are exactly the kind of people who don’t believe that wine and beer really “count” as drinking. They think you’re only really drinking if you consume five stiff martinis every afternoon. Which is probably what Camilla does. Anyway, Tindall keeps revealing the most unfortunate secrets. Ol’ One Pint Willy must have learned how to reveal all from Mike!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar and Cover Images.

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65 Responses to “Mike Tindall: Princess Kate ‘still plays’ drinking games like ‘Prosecco Pong’”

  1. FancyPants says:

    Is this supposed to make her sound cool? I’m about 2 months older than Kate and drinking games and who can drink the most alcohol haven’t been funny to me in more than 20 years. I don’t really believe him because alcohol has calories, but still… what a bunch of losers.

    • ilovethedark says:

      There’s something deeply sad about a 40+ year old still playing drinking games. I no longer drink and when I did, I stopped playing drinking games after graduating college. It’s not a very funny story and if one of my friends was still playing drinking games at her big age I’d be deeply concerned.

      • Smart&Messy says:

        I don’t think she plays drinking games anymore, Mike does. He’s the one who thinks it’s funny and he does good service to the Waleses by telling this. He knows everyone is bored with them, he finds them boring too. He sees that people are more interested in the Sussexes because of their charisma. So thinks he comes to the rescue saying sht lile this. He is this dumb.

      • Lamb chop says:

        @smartmessy Mike really can’t think that deeply, he’s a genuinely dim oaf. You’re giving him about 50 extra iq points. He’s absolutely not analysing the rf and who’s more popular and why. He just likes sport and drinking so he ascribes it to the wails because hes told to. 🤣🤣🤣

    • Mightymolly says:

      Not just cool but a “cool girl.” She can relax and have fun with the lads, not the type of girl who gives them grief for partying as middle aged dads. Plus the real sign of a cool girl is consuming calories while never gaining weight.

      • cosmo says:

        I’m guessing 50% of her daily calorie intake is alcohol.

      • Mtl.ex.pat says:

        @mightymolly – ah the “cool girl” soliloquy from “Gone Girl” – such excellent observations….

      • Hannah1 says:

        “the real sign of a cool girl is consuming calories while never gaining weight”
        💯

        I wasn’t familiar with the Gone Girl soliloquy. Brilliant

  2. Someone pinched my user name says:

    If anyone truly believes Kate and Zara are drinkers of £9 a bottle fizzy pop, then I have a wide variety of goods to sell them.

  3. SussexWatcher says:

    She looks drunk as a skunk in those photos above with the wonkily placed tiara.

    Zara and Mike, the cheating bully, are just tacky, gross people in general so the fact he thinks it’s a charming anecdote that a bunch of 40 year olds are playing beer pong isn’t surprising. Neither is the fact that Keen still drinks.

    Nothing they try to tell us is true – from the Wailses happy marriage to reasons for mysterious disappearing acts.

  4. WaterDragon says:

    I figured her drink of choice would be “Crack Babies”.

  5. Lady Digby says:

    Does Kate pass Mike’s fun to be with test because she takes part in drunken games? Perhaps the bonded over dwarf throwing which I understand Mike has a penchant for!? So classy and not at all means and derogatory if they can sling peasants about when you are drunk?

  6. Tessa says:

    The tiara looks wobbly on her long hair wig. She is trying for Disney princess look to no avail. I wonder why Charles allows his nephew in law to go on like this to the media

    • Smart&Messy says:

      Imagine if it was the Sussexes telling this anecdote.. It would be another attempt to destroy the monarchy and torment poor Kate. So anyway a story about Meghan’s drinking habits in 3 2 1..

  7. Tarte Au Citron says:

    Wasn’t he told by the palace suits years ago to stop talking about the BRF? What a big gob.

  8. Amy Bee says:

    Is beer pong still a thing? None of these people are interesting to me.

    • Hypocrisy says:

      I haven’t seen it since high school/early college and that was in the 80’s lol..

      • Graphinya Heather says:

        When I attended a 20 year reunion (wow I’m old) of my university program graduates, we did play a round of it for nostalgia’s sake but my son has no idea what that game is (and he’s not sheltered, I guess it’s just not a trend (yet- they’re trying to steal everything from Gen X haha) for the Gen Z)

      • Bqm says:

        I live in a college town and we see students on their lawns playing pretty much every weekend when the weather is nice.

    • CatGotMyTongue says:

      I’ve seen pingpong balls near the beer recently in various grocery stores. In the US. So it must still be a thing at some level. It’s just that most people outgrow it.

      There was also a game called Quarters where you tried to flip a coin into someone’s glass.

      If I want a beer (or some prosecco) I will just have it. I don’t need a cheesy excuse and people egging me on.

      And I don’t want a gross pingpong ball in my drink! Or a quarter, omg. Filthy!

    • Becks1 says:

      haha, we still play it as adults! but the cups are filled with water and no one is forced to finish a drink or whatever. People just drink what they want (whether it be water, beer, prosecco, soda, mocktail, etc) and we just play for the fun of it. And no one drinks the water in the cups!!!

      It’s actually a lot more competitive when its not a drinking game because people stay more focused lol.

  9. Jais says:

    Technically this could be a story from before the cancerous cells but that’s not how he’s making it sound. And it does refute what she said about not drinking much anymore. So I guess prosecco bong doesn’t count, lol. These men, bw Mike and William, keep opening their mouths and dropping the bag, I swear.

  10. sunniside up says:

    I doubt that Kate is happy with Mike talking about her.

  11. Hypocrisy says:

    In there 40’s but still acting like they are at university is a not a lifestyle to brag about.. sounds like these people don’t know how to have fun unless they are three drinks in and that to me is a horrible way to live.. no wonder they all seem emotionally stunted it’s because they are.. you would think with teenagers on the horizon they would stop this behavior..

  12. Becks1 says:

    Well I do love prosecco in general so does that make me like a princess?? lol.

    Again its clear they have very set things to say in public – Kate saying she doesn’t drink anymore because of the cancer, etc – but then they or someone on their behalf goes on a podcast or talk show and just kills that narrative. Tindall didnt say “well you know kate used to love prosecco pong but she’s stopped playing it since her diagnosis.” But nope! Mike made it clear that Kate still plays it with them.

  13. Drip drip drip their little secrets are coming to light. She doesn’t drink because of her “health” my ass!

  14. harriet says:

    If I were married to Charles, I’d need at least six stiff martinis per hour to keep going.

  15. BLACK ELDERBERRY says:

    There’s a photo (I have the link somewhere, I’ll add it when I find it) of a drunk Kate at an outdoor event/concert organized by Rossa Hanbury in their gardens. The photo isn’t the best quality, but it clearly shows Kate without William, in tight leotards (black leggings and a tight black strapless top with bare shoulders), the wig is lost somewhere, and a third, large, brimming glass of gin, as the article under the photo stated. Her face shows that she’s drunk in a tent, where she’s accompanied only by Rossa’s husband, the Marquess of David Cholmondeley, and another man. It looks as if they deliberately dragged her to this secluded spot to hide her from the other attendees.

  16. Sarah says:

    Good lord, that tiara is so wrong for that hairstyle and so badly anchored it’s unreal. Are they deliberately trying to make her look terrible?

    • jais says:

      I will never get over that tiara on that head of hair. Never. It was a new tiara for Kate and apparently very heavy. Word is Camilla offered it up and if I had to guess she offered it at the last minute. There is something diabolical about how bad it ended up looking. Like sabotage.

  17. Nerd says:

    He made it clear that “she still plays Prosecco Pong” as in she still does after the cancer diagnosis, so I believe that this isn’t him reminiscing about old times with William and Kate but about her since 2024. There have been too many instances where she looked out of it with her goofy smile or inappropriate laughing, like when those children were screaming when they were caught outdoors in that torrential downpour and she stood there laughing hysterically at them and not sharing her umbrella. That lopsided tiara was likely another one. I think if anything she drinks more than she eats which might explain her extremely frail looking body. I think that’s why they always do joint bar events and William even does them without her. I think they are both heavy drinkers and that’s when the cushions come out for a little aggressive back and forth between the two of them. That’s why we’ve seen William swaying during events and why he sometimes does that strange goofy look that she does at awkward times.

    • AOC says:

      Pre-cancerous cells, get it, how many times? Pre-cancerous cells, for the love of all that is holy. How long is this going to go on? Until she is 90? Or until she disappears.

  18. Blujfly says:

    Honestly, I constantly see the “upper middle class” here in the US hosting alcohol fueled high school and college graduation parties with beer pong and the parents getting utterly annihilated. They’re fun, you see. Not like those old people. Everyone takes everything too seriously. Etc etc etc

  19. QuiteContrary says:

    Forty-year-olds playing drinking games are just sad.

    Using prosecco instead of beer doesn’t make it any classier.

  20. Lady Digby says:

    Why did Zara settle for him? He looks like an unwashed thug, has no decorum, has never grown up, no depth or sensitivity and unfaithful?

    • Blujfly says:

      I don’t think Zara was a huge prize, and when they met, he was a famous English rugby hero.

      • Beverley says:

        Agreed. Zara is no prize, whatsoever. She showed her ass IN CHURCH during H&M’s wedding sermon. The royals just couldn’t mask their bigotry for a few minutes for the photo ops? It goes to show that even though the royals love a good PR opportunity, they love displaying their racism far more.

    • Chrissy says:

      She’s a racist lout like he is?

    • Me at home says:

      Zara could have found someone respectable and quieter, like the York sisters and Pippa all did. Zara must LIKE boorish thugs.

  21. Sue says:

    I feel like Gossip Queen Mike’s stories are sometimes worse than how that family perceives Spare. Hey Britain, your next king and queen are booze hounds!

    • Lady Digby says:

      Agreed 💯@Sue does Mike actually think this is endearing? He’s quite the chatty man when he’s boasting about his royal family connections and activities on his podcast. Abusing his royal proximity and embarrassing drunken tales of boozy antics amongst them, whatever next?

  22. bisynaptic says:

    If you don’t focus on it, that tiara looks like the crown of thorns.

  23. BLACK ELDERBERRY says:

    @ladyDigby
    August 2013 rave festival
    “They reported: “‘[Catherine] was in high spirits, ordering spicy margaritas, eating affogato [an Italian coffee-based dessert], and speaking affably with the other members of her party,’ the newspaper reported. Her companions apparently carted in a huge, Balthazar-sized bottle of AIX rosé and, together with Kate, left the festival restaurant staff a 700 pound tip.” Kensington Palace declined to comment on Kate’s visit, so it remains unknown where William was at the time—although it is thought he may have been on a grouse-shooting trip for the Glorious Twelfth on Saturday.”
    …to leave the festival restaurant staff a 700 pound tip, with the addition of “together with Kate” reminiscent of William nitpicking about other people’s actions and shouting… ME, I DID IT!
    Kate can’t tip because Kate doesn’t have her own money. Her bodyguard probably bought her drinks, or she was taking them crookedly….
    There was also a press report about her third glass of gin, and that she came alone, but here it’s about a margarita and her companions. It’s hard to say exactly what happened. It’s clear that KP didn’t comment on her partying; it seemed like she was on her own, but then they tried to smooth things over, saying she wasn’t eating at Food truck, but was at a gala dinner at Rossa Hamburg. She definitely doesn’t look like someone at the dinner party, nor does Rossa’s husband, who’s standing next to her. The festival lasts several days, and the dinner probably took place, but it’s unclear when. I remember the press writing about Kate’s unexpected outing to the concert. I was surprised they were even writing about it and showing a photo of a tipsy Kate, but I have a feeling some of the photos have disappeared.

    • Lady Digby says:

      Thanks @Black Elderberry for that comprehensive report. Well, well, I bet Will was grousing about her having such a good time without him 🤣

    • Becks1 says:

      The spicy margarita is the version I’ve always heard and it does look like that’s what she’s holding. But she could have switched off and on during the night.

      The whole thing seemed weird because it came off as an effort to show that Kate has friends, Kate is really social you guys, we promise people love to hang out with her!!!!

      i’m sure she didnt tip and i’m sure she didnt buy a damn drink herself either.

    • Bqm says:

      It was 2023 not 2013.

  24. BLACK ELDERBERRY says:

    @LADY DIGBY
    You’re welcome😄

    @BECKS1
    They clearly didn’t succeed with this social display, because I’m afraid her entire entourage are bodyguards, and the rest of these stories are just an attempt to cover for Kate, who probably decided to go out drinking like in the old days. It’s clear that Rosse’s husband, Marquess David Cholmondeley, keeps Kate away from people. It’s unclear and how much she drank, what she was doing or saying, and it’s obvious that anything she opens her mouth is a problem. This wasn’t necessarily the first time she’d been partying, but it just came to light now because someone took these photos and posted them online.

  25. BeanieBean says:

    I don’t get it–he said this beer pong thing in his 2023 podcast interview & it’s getting reported on again? They have nothing new?
    ‘In September 2023, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Princess Royal sat down with Mike …

    … Mike’s playful claim that Princess Kate, 44, was “uber competitive,” evidenced by her prowess at “beer pong” — which she coyly denied.’

  26. Siri says:

    Well I guess a title and tiaras didn’t give her class. I remember all the pictures of Kate coming out of clubs looking like she was drunk out of her mind. She was a frumpy, classless, tomboy before she married and it appears that not much has changed. Drinking games are so frat boy coded and stupid. It’s also a very strange past time for someone who is supposedly still recovering from “cancer”.

  27. Mina_esq says:

    This is kind of sad. Last time I played Prosecco pong was when I was in late 20s. This is nothing new. Young women who don’t like beer usually play with Prosecco. Kate should try having some friends. She might grow as a person and develop interests and hobbies.

  28. Lily says:

    Prosecco pong? How elite. My pinky finger wants to cock out.

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