Prince of Wales nicknamed ‘One Pint Willy’, reveals Mike Tindall
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The Prince of Wales is nicknamed “One Pint Willy” because he is “not the best of drinkers”, Mike Tindall has said.
Mr Tindall, the former England rugby union player, confessed his pet name for William after appearing with his wife Zara, the Princess Royal’s daughter, on Rob Burrow’s podcast.
He was asked what the couple call each other and if they have any nicknames for other members of the Royal family.
He said: “The Prince of Wales is known to me as One Pint Willy because he’s not the best of drinkers.”
Mr Tindall, 45, explained he came from a sport “built on the social aspect of a couple of beers being sunk quite often”.
He added: “So yeah that is one that I will definitely give away for the Prince of Wales, One Pint Willy. It’s out there now, sorry Sir.”
His wife joked that he was “in so much trouble” before suggesting that there are a lot of nicknames that “fly around” in the Royal family.
The couple also revealed that they call each other “munchkin” and Zara has another two-word nickname for Mike in her phone which ends in “kitten”.
“I’ll let Zara decide whether she wants to give away what I’m down in her phone as,” he quipped.
“We basically call each other munchkins a lot, or my love. I normally use munchkin, don’t know why that started but it has stuck and it stays,” he added.
“When he’s not listening to the munchkin or Mikey then it becomes like Michael then Michael Tindall when there’s no response. He is in my phone as something else and it ends with kitten,” Zara teased.
Mr Tindall has been married to the King’s niece - an equestrian who was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2006 - for more than years.
Mr Burrow’s podcast involves him and his wife Lindsey interviewing seven sporting greats, asking them seven questions.
The former Leeds Rhinos player, who has motor neurone disease, is able to record his podcast using AI technology and recordings of his voice to communicate.
The Tindalls discussed their children’s sporting achievements on the podcast and joked that they hoped the youngest may yet become a professional golfer.
The pair have three children, including daughters Mia, nine, and Lena, five, and their youngest, Lucas, two.
“The two-year-old is where I am pinning my dreams,” quipped Mr Tindall, who won the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
“I actually wanted his middle name to be Mulligan because if he did become a professional golfer, he would drop the Lucas and just become Mulligan Tindall.”
It’s thought this refers to the golfing term ‘taking a mulligan’, a free shot sometimes given to players.
Asked by Mr Burrow if any of her three children will win Sports Personality of the Year eventually, Zara said: “We try to give them both sides of our sports, they all know how to ride, they’ve been around the horses.
“They’ve also all played rugby to a certain level. The little guy is only two but he’s showing signs of maybe having a lot of aggression that needs taking out on the tackle bags, so potentially maybe but I guess you never want to push them too much because then they’ll not want to do any of it.”
Her husband added: “I think with Mia, well actually all of them hate to lose so they have that ingrained in them already and obviously being typically an annoying father who is a sportsman, I very rarely let them win just so they get used to it.
“They have to work to win. Mia likes driving go-karts and stuff like that so whether she ends up going down that route, but it’s all about allowing them to find their way. I would love one of them to play golf so I had a reason to go play golf and I could justify it to Zara…if I could get all three to play…that would be amazing.”
Discussing their childhood experiences, Zara said she was “very lucky” that the Princess Royal decided not to give her and her brother Peter Phillips any titles.
“I really commend her on that and we were very lucky that we kind of got to do it a bit our own way,” she explained.
“My family has a great work ethic as well which I’m hoping that they instilled in me and is still going to this day and hopefully we can pass on to our kids,” the equestrian added.
Asked about what advice she would give to her seven-year-old self, she said: “Maybe I should have listened a little bit more. Getting on later in life I probably would’ve worked a bit harder in my A-levels but my seven-year-old self was probably - yeah maybe listen a bit more.”
The podcast Seven: Rob Burrow, The Total Sport Podcast is available on BBC Sounds.
