The Truth About Queen Elizabeth's Relationship With Zara Tindall

Zara Tindall, Queen Elizabeth II's oldest granddaughter, has maintained a lowkey public profile, much like mother Princess Anne and brother Peter Phillips. An avid equestrian like her mom (and her mom's mom), Page Six reported that Zara impressively took home the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was presented by none other than Anne herself. Unlike her mother, however, Zara is not a "princess" by title, a conscious choice made by her parents despite being offered the title by Elizabeth, per Town & Country. 

Speaking to the Times in 2015, Zara thanked her parents for the relative normalcy this afforded her. "I'm very lucky that both my parents decided to not use the title and we grew up and did all the things that gave us the opportunity to do," she shared. According to Hello!, she and Peter were even sent to a local primary school with local children in lieu of the fancy boarding school, Ludgrove School, that was attended by Prince Harry and Prince William. 

Zara has had an eventful 2021 so far, giving birth to son Lucas Philip in her bathroom in March (royals, they're... just like us?), adding a third to her brood of children with husband Mike Tindall. Given Harry and wife Meghan Markle revealing a close relationship with the queen (despite ongoing familial tensions) through daughter Lilibet Diana's name, we wonder how close Zara is with her grandmother. Keep reading for what she had to say about their bond!

Zara Tindall and Queen Elizabeth II's body language when together reflect "trust and empathy," according to a body language expert for Express — and Zara would agree with that assessment. Speaking on a 2019 episode of "House of Rugby" (via Hello!) with her rugby player husband, Zara volunteered that the queen would make a great rugby captain with a "quiet authority" and offering a "couple of key bullet points, with a glance of an eye" every once in a while. Asked if Zara ever was on the receiving end of such austere glances, to which Zara brushed it off. "I always get the good look," she quipped. Admitting that Elizabeth was sterner with her grandchildren "when we were much younger," the royal noted she rarely got the "bad look" from the queen nowadays.

As body language expert Judi James broke it down to the Express, "Zara is probably the most openly tactile and spontaneous-looking member of the royal family... and both those qualities seem to have a very positive effect on the Queen." James pointed to an incident in which Elizabeth mirrored Zara's pointing hand to "show like-minded empathy," explaining, "Zara even leans... to increase the proximity. This places their heads close together to signal trust." 

With all the ongoing Sussex-royal drama, we love hearing these endearing personal anecdotes within the Windsor family!