Strictly's Anton Du Beke teams up with royal family member for something so special

Strictly Star Anton Du Beke has teamed up with a prominent member of the Royal Family for a very special project alongside other familiar faces.

• Strictly professional-turned-judge Anton Du Beke has joined forces with one of the Queen’s grandchildren for a new venture.
• Zara Tindall, daughter of Princess Anne, is part of Slingsby Golf Academy Class of 2022 for an important cause.
• This royal news comes as it was revealed that the Queen snubbed Prince Charles and Prince William at Prince Philip’s memorial for this personal reason.

Strictly Come Dancing and members of The Firm might not initially appear to have a lot in common, but fans are now getting the crossover they could never have known they needed. Just days after dancer Aljaž Škorjanec quit the show, Strictly 2021 judge and former pro Anton Du Beke has appeared in a brand new video posted by Slingsby Gin. In it, it emerged that the star is teaming up with a whole host of familiar faces for something very special indeed.

This year Slingsby Gin’s celebrity Golf Academy is being hosted by the Strictly judge and as Anton introduced this year’s recruits, the royal connection emerged.

In the video proudly shared on the Slingsby Gin Instagram account, Anton kicked off the series with a smile as he declared, “Welcome to the Slingsby Gold Academy 2022”.  The short clip then unveiled this year’s “cadets” including the royal that Anton Du Beke has teamed up with. 

The Queen’s granddaughter Zara Tindall is one of the cadets and is an Olympian and won a silver medal at the London 2012 Games in the Eventing. 

However, whilst her horse riding skills have often been showcased, it’s her golf skills that will soon be put to the ultimate test. Competing alongside tennis coach Judy Murray, presenter Anna Woolhouse and ITV daytime star Dr Zoe Williams, Zara will be attempting to master golf.

They will be assisted by professional golfer Inci Mehmet as they battle it out for a spot at the BMW PGA Pro-Amateur championship in September. Throughout their journey Anton will be giving updates and accompanying the cadets.

The inspiring series is set to encourage more women to take up golf and will help to break down barriers for excited viewers considering getting involved in the game.  

Though it’s not known what Zara’s golf skills are like, her husband Mike will likely be excited to see her take part. The retired rugby player has previously spoken about his enthusiasm for golf and according to Gloucestershire Live, watched it with his son after Zara’s shocking labour with Lucas last year.  

Opening up on his The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast, Mike told listeners, "The best thing about being at home, the best thing, was as soon as he was wrapped up, it was skin on skin, straight downstairs, TV room, gold on. I was like this is what me and you are doing.

"There was actually a ridiculously old rugby game on, it was Bath v Wigan, so I was like we're going to stick that on first, then we went to the final day of the golf.”

Zara Tindall’s participation in the Golf Academy will likely have been met with huge excitement at home as she hones her skills.