Despite her everywoman persona, Zara Tindall's life is full of haute couture and high-end horses, soirees and luxury vacations. She may never ascend to the throne, but Zara sure knows how to live like a queen.
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00:00Despite her everywoman persona, Zara Tindall's life is full of haute couture and high-end horses,
00:06soirees, and luxury vacations. She may never ascend to the throne,
00:10but Zara sure knows how to live like a queen.
00:13Royal kids lead lavish lives, and Princess Anne's daughter Zara Tindall was no exception.
00:18She attended some of the most exclusive schools in the U.K., starting with the pricey Port Regis
00:23Prep, then, at 13, moving to the Gordonston School, known as the poshest school in Scotland.
00:28Her grandfather Prince Philip and uncle King Charles III both went there,
00:32although Charles famously hated it and was bullied by his peers.
00:36There were early morning runs through the Murray Hills,
00:38cold showers, and sailing was part of the education here."
00:42Zara, on the other hand, loved the place, although in a 2018 interview with The Telegraph,
00:46she confessed,
00:47"'I loved sport and being with my mates all the time. I don't know how much work I did.
00:51You do get homesick, but I had so much fun.'"
00:54Early on, Zara fell madly in love with horses, just as her mother Princess Anne had. Speaking
00:59about Anne's obsession, Prince Philip put it bluntly,
01:02"'If it doesn't fart or doesn't eat hay, she isn't interested.'"
01:05But equestrianism is one of the most expensive sports in the world,
01:09so much so that even Tindall worried her family couldn't afford it. Between feeding and housing
01:14her 12 horses, plus all the other costs associated with eventing, the cost easily tops $500,000 a
01:21year. But rich people know rich people, and Zara's friend Jimmy Blackshaw secured her a hefty
01:26financial sponsorship with a spread betting company. He told The Guardian,
01:30"'Once she had a sponsor, she was getting money to do a job. She had to do it properly,
01:34and by God, she did.'"
01:35"'My eventing career could have gone one or two ways if I didn't have a fantastic horse.'
01:40Zara and her horse, Toy Town, won the 2006 World Eventing Championship,
01:44and she won a silver medal on High Kingdom as part of Great Britain's 2012 Olympic team.
01:49She's now only riding part-time, which costs less but is still far from affordable."
01:54These days, Zara's passion reportedly costs her £200,000, or around $263,000 a year.
02:02Zara was an influencer long before the advent of social media. For many years,
02:06she was a brand ambassador for outdoor clothing and gear manufacturer Musto,
02:10which reportedly brought in around £500,000. Though it's not the sort of glam partnership
02:16one might expect from a royal, Tyndall explained to The Telegraph in 2010,
02:19"'My mother is massively into sailing, so we always had Musto clothes,
02:23and it went on from there, really. The range is all day-to-day stuff that I'd put on and use myself.'"
02:28In 2006, Zara became a brand ambassador for Rolex and made over $130,000.
02:33Also that year, she was appointed a spokesperson for Land Rover,
02:37a deal that had her potentially taking home £200,000 a year. And, to top it off,
02:42she earned over $100,000 a year as a Royal Bank of Scotland ambassador.
02:47Zara's brand partnerships likely have her raking in millions, and it hasn't gone unnoticed.
02:52Critics have accused her of exploiting her royal status. However, as a non-working royal,
02:57she insists the deals are necessary to fund her hobby, telling the Daily Mail,
03:01"'Horses are expensive, and any help with that is brilliant. I want to stand on my own two feet.'"
03:06Elaborate weddings are part of being a royal. In 2011,
03:10Zara was set to wed rugby player Mike Tindall in what was expected to be a low-key ceremony
03:15compared to the royal wedding of the year, Prince William and Princess Catherine. However,
03:19the Tindalls' big day ended up costing a fortune. Things got off to a lavish start,
03:23with Zara and Mike hosting a pre-wedding party on the Royal Yacht Britannia,
03:28where they were seen having a blast with royals including William and Catherine,
03:31Prince Harry, and Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice. Then there was the ceremony itself.
03:36The security alone cost taxpayers a whopping £400,000, so who knows what the final bill was.
03:42But Princess Anne lent her daughter an opulent Cartier tiara, which was previously owned by
03:46Queen Elizabeth II and is worth between £2-4 million, so at least she saved on jeweled headpieces.
03:53Thrifty!
03:54In the early days of their relationship, Zara and Mike lived in Hallery House,
03:58a four-story, seven-bedroom home in Cheltenham that they bought back in 2009 for a million dollars.
04:03They then refurbished the property, which has a hot tub and private cinema,
04:07and sold it in 2013 for about $1.5 million.
04:11The couple next bought Aston Farm, a seven-bedroom farmhouse set on 700 acres.
04:16Aston Farm is even more elaborate than the Tindalls' previous home, featuring a gym,
04:20a gun room, dedicated game space, a cinema, and even a converted barn with its own bar.
04:26And, bonus, Princess Anne basically lives next door.
04:29When she's not riding horses, Zara and Mike are taking luxury vacations.
04:34Speaking to The Telegraph in 2015, Mike shared,
04:36"[We both love skiing, and so far we've been to Chamonix and places in Switzerland,
04:41but we're still trying to find our favorite spot."
04:43The couple is particularly fond of Australia, where they first met.
04:46Zara explained to Hello!,
04:48"[It really suits us with the outdoor lifestyle and everything that comes with it.
04:51What is not to love about being here?"
04:53"'Work hard and play hard.'"
04:54"'That's what Australia's about, isn't it?'
04:56In March 2024, the Tindalls headed off to Bahrain for the Grand Prix.
05:00They traveled by private jet along with Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank,
05:04as well as controversial British TV personality Jeremy Clarkson and Madonna's son, Rocco Ricci.
05:10Two months later, Zara jetted off yet again, this time to Monaco for the F1 Grand Prix.
05:15While there, she was spotted living the high life on a luxury yacht while mingling
05:19with a variety of other influencers.
05:22While Zara is by no means a girly girl, like any proper royal,
05:25she knows a good quality jewel when she sees it.
05:28When Mike popped the question in December 2010, he did so with a ring worth a whopping
05:32£140,000, eclipsing the value of Meghan Markle and even Queen Camilla's engagement rings.
05:38As a longtime brand ambassador for Rolex,
05:41Zara doesn't have to pull out her phone when she wants to know what time it is.
05:44While on vacation in Australia in 2023, she was spotted wearing the Rolex Yachtmaster,
05:49which sells for an astounding £41,000, around $54,000.
05:54She partnered with jewelry brand Collegia in 2015, collabing on a collection featuring
05:59pieces that went for anywhere from about £3,000 to over £26,490.
06:05It's really wearable because that's kind of what I really needed it to be."
06:10For example, in 2024, Zara wore an 18-karat gold Collegia diamond ring at the Royal Windsor
06:15Horse Show. Pretty, yes, but be warned, it'll set you back over $10,000.
06:21The Tindalls don't just collect mansions and pricey baubles,
06:24they also own an impressive car collection.
06:27As brand ambassador for Land Rover, Zara has her pick of the fleet, which cost a small
06:31six-figure fortune apiece. In 2020, she was caught speeding in her Land Rover. Her license
06:36was suspended for six months, plus she got four points and was fined £817, or around $1,076,
06:44which she probably had in her change purse, being a royal.
06:47When The Telegraph asked Zara about her preference for luxury gas guzzlers,
06:51she confessed that being environmentally conscious wasn't at the top of her agenda,
06:55asking,
06:56"'Isn't that Charles' job? But it's not in the city. It's a working car,
06:59and the horses are on organic food.'"
07:01All righty, then.
07:03As a non-working royal, Zara is free to pursue as many business ventures as she wishes,
07:08and she and Mike have amassed a staggering business empire.
07:11In 2019, Zara made headlines when it came out that she'd been making secret deals with
07:16Hong Kong-based tycoon Dr. Johnny Hon, owner of The Global Group. Though her reps initially
07:21denied reports that she was being paid £100,000 a year as a director at Hon's firm,
07:26when confronted with actual documents, they admitted the claims were true.
07:29Hon explained to the Daily Mail that his association with the royal family was good
07:34for business. In 2020, Zara was appointed as a director at Cheltenham Racecourse,
07:38where she supports the chairman and executives. Apparently,
07:41association with royalty is good for the horse business, too, but it doesn't come cheap.
07:46Martin St. Quinton, chairman of the Cheltenham Racecourse committee, told The Jockey Club,
07:50"'I'm sure we will benefit significantly from her breadth of experience and a perspective
07:54that will prove invaluable to the racecourse.'"
07:57The Tindalls are also ambassadors for racehorse auction house Magic Millions,
08:01for which they take home £125,000 a year.
08:04I want to be remembered for being hardworking and respectful and loyal and a good mum."
08:13In 2024, Mike took on a number of new projects, including a drinks business and a property
08:18management company. A source told Express,
08:20"[Zara also has several projects that she works on both here and abroad.
08:24It's very commendable of the Tindalls, really, because they could just kick back and take handouts."
08:29Zara was once known for her fun approach to style, which couldn't have been more different
08:33from the fashion sense of her fellow royals, but over time, she began to tone it down to more
08:38elegant and sophisticated looks. She's since spent thousands, at least, on her array of high-end
08:44aristocratic outfits. Though she sometimes wears clothing straight off the rack, Zara usually
08:49dresses in designer brands such as Laura Green, Amelia Wickstead, and Zimmerman.
08:53Appearing at a Buckingham Palace garden party in 2024, for instance,
08:57she wore the Isabelle dress by Laura Green, which costs £1,500. But a dress alone doesn't
09:04make an outfit. She paired the fit-and-flare frock with a pair of Rebecca heels from Emmy
09:08London, which go for just shy of £500. Attending Royal Ascot that year,
09:13she channeled Cinderella in a blue Rebecca Valance gown and Sarah Kant hat.
09:18Now sold out, the dress originally retailed for £558, while Kant's hats usually cost a
09:24minimum of around £800. Speaking to Express, Meghan Watkins, a stylist at Silk Thread,
09:30explained that finely crafted millinery is central to Zara's signature style and a means of her
09:35showing off both her personality and passion for horses, which is itself a status symbol.
09:40Watkins explained,
09:41Due to her love of all things equestrian, Zara often attends many horse races throughout the
09:46year, sporting interesting and carefully considered fascinators and headpieces.
09:50Zara will often use headgear to show off her sense of style and add a point of interest to
09:54her outfit. When she's unwinding from her whirlwind of equestrian and business activities, Zara loves
10:00nothing more than a ritzy soiree. In 2005, she threw a lavish birthday party for Mike,
10:05with royals such as Prince William and Princess Anne in attendance.
10:09A decade later, Zara's love for glitzy late-night parties showed no signs of waning,
10:14as she and Mike were snapped celebrating the Six Nations Rugby Review dinner at Annabelle's.
10:18Located in the posh Mayfair neighborhood of London, Annabelle's is an elite private
10:22members' club that charges patrons almost $5,000 for annual membership,
10:26plus a joining fee of over $2,000.
10:29"...was the first of its kind, a members' club for dinner and dancing where you could
10:33practically fall onto the dance floor and find Liz Taylor or Diana Ross."
10:37Suffice to say, only those at the highest echelons of British social hierarchy are admitted.
10:42But that's not the only private members' club that Zara frequents. In 2016,
10:46she partied until 2.40 a.m. at Lulu's Nightclub. Also located in Mayfair,
10:51membership at Lulu's will set well-to-do Londoners back a minimum of $2,000 a year.
10:56And before King Charles' coronation in 2023, she and Mike partied the night
11:01away at London's Swanky Arts Club, which charges members around $3,600 annually,
11:06along with an assessment fee of about $2,600.
11:10But hardworking Brits need to let loose now and then, as Mike explained to Good Morning Britain,
11:15You know, sometimes when you've got three children,
11:17it's not always the easiest to get out and just have a drink together.