Mike Tindall recalls how he ‘styled out’ near-miss faux pas during private meeting with King Charles

Mike Tindall recalled how he “styled it out” after almost making a faux pas during a private meeting with King Charles.

• The King’s nephew-in-law Mike Tindall has opened up about nearly making an awkward mistake during a moment with the monarch. 
• Discussing this on his podcast, the retired rugby star said that he had simply been “following a routine” before rescuing the situation.
• This royal news comes as a royal expert claimed Prince George made this very cheeky remark at school about his dad being King.   

The royal mourning period for Queen Elizabeth has now ended and the Royal Family shared a poignant portrait of Her Majesty to mark this sombre occasion. As her nearest and dearest continue to grieve, the Queen’s grandson-in-law Mike Tindall reflected that the “world has lost their grandmother” with her loss in a new episode of his podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby. And that wasn’t all Zara Tindall’s husband shared as part of this special tribute as Mike Tindall recalled how he “styled" out a near-mistake during a recent meeting with the new King. 

“You know when you’re following a routine?” Mike put it to his co-hosts Alex Payne, James Haskell. “I almost curtseyed to the King the other day. Without thinking about it, I was just following behind my wife and saw her curtsey and I sort of - and then, fortunately *didn’t*...”

One of his astonished co-hosts asked whether he’d managed to turn the almost-curtsey into a bow to which Mike replied, “Yeah, sort of, sort of. It was a lower bow.”

“Did they clock it and sort of raise an eyebrow”, he was then asked, to which the rugby star responded that he’d “styled it out alright” but admitted that he “might’ve looked like [he’d] stubbed something, my toe on something on the floor.”

Thankfully for the King’s nephew-in-law, he went on to share that this near-miss came not in front of billions of people but in private. As revealed on the Royal Family’s official website, whilst there are no “obligatory codes of behaviour” when meeting the monarch or members The Firm, typically women will do a small curtsey and men will do a neck bow, from the head only. 

Mike managing to turn his almost-curtsey into a bow, therefore kept his greeting within these general protocols. 

Following this surprising discussion, Mike was asked whether the dynamic between him and King Charles had changed since Zara’s uncle ascended to the throne. Considering his response, the rugby star compared how he’d known King Charles whilst he was Prince of Wales, to his experience knowing the Queen only after she was already monarch. 

“I’m very aware of the official, but then I think once the official bit’s done - I don’t know - I *think* I would have a way closer relationship because of history,” the podcaster speculated. “Whereas for anyone who ever met the Queen she was always ‘The Queen’ so you only knew her as that and you held her in that regard whatever. Charles has obviously done so much work with The Prince’s Trust and everyone’s met him in his role as the Prince of Wales. Now he’s gone up to the King.” 

Whilst neither his wife Zara or Mike are working royals, the couple have been glimpsed attending various prominent occasions over the years from the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June to Sandringham Christmases. Now as the niece and nephew-in-law of the King it’s thought that fans could still get to see them at similarly iconic family moments.