It's been 12 years since Mike and Zara Tindall gave royal fans a dose of Christmas joy and announced their engagement.
On 21 December 2010, the former rugby player and the Olympic equestrian released a romantic snowy photo depicting Zara with her left hand on Mike's stomach, showing off her dazzling new diamond engagement ring. But the photo could have been very different since Mike revealed he had actually been "waiting" to pop the question for "ages" following their seven-year relationship.
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Mike hinted to HELLO! in 2009 that a proposal was in the near future, teasing: "I don't think it is about whether we will get married but when."
However, it was a year later that he actually surprised Princess Anne's daughter with a ring estimated to be worth £140,000 with a round diamond and a split platinum band. He explained that this was actually due to not wanting to get engaged too soon after other close family members, including the Prince and Princess of Wales who revealed their happy news on 16 November 2010 – how thoughtful!
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Mike proposed at the couple's home in 2010, months after Prince William
"I had been thinking about it for ages, waiting to ask, but then my brother got engaged, and so did a certain Duke of Cambridge," he told the Daily Mail. "I thought I'd better get on with it."
Speaking of his pre-proposal nerves, he added: "I was upstairs, plucking up the nerve to do it, while Zara was downstairs watching television," he said. "It was all about shock value – I wanted to catch her when it was quiet, and she wasn't expecting anything."
The rugby player gave Zara a diamond split-shank wedding ring
And it definitely worked! "She was completely in shock. Then, when she stopped laughing, she said, 'Yes.' That was a relief."
Mike and Zara got married at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh in July 2011, just three months after Prince William and Princess Kate's Westminster Abbey nuptials. They held their wedding reception at the Scottish royal residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Fast forward 12 years and the couple are now proud parents to three children: Mia, Lena and Lucas.
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