They may be the picture of professionalism during royal outings, but Zara and Mike Tindall have proven they are very down-to-earth behind closed doors.
Just like Meghan Markle calling Prince Harry "Haz" and Princess Kate referring to her daughter Charlotte as "Lottie", Zara and Mike have made a few rare comments about their nicknames for one another in the past – but there are far more than we realised!
The couple have been dating since 2003 and married since 2011, so they have had plenty of time to brainstorm different names for each other. While Mike has admitted he refers to his wife with some endearing monikers, Zara has let slip that some of her nicknames for the former England rugby player are much more risque. Take a look…
Mike revealed his first nickname for Zara on an episode of the podcast House of Rugby in 2020. Explaining that his youngest daughter Lena had just walked into the room, he told his co-host Alex Payne: "Sorry, Lena's just on fire at the moment, she's never quiet.
"I did just send Zed a message, going 'Shush please,' so she's obviously moving from somewhere."
Zara similarly revealed the whole family go by their initials, signing off a letter to Mike during his time on I'm a Celebrity in 2022 with "Z, M, L and L" for Zara, Mia, Lena and Lucas.
She also revealed she refers to her husband as "my love", while their children call him "papa".
Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver read Mike's message aloud, telling her campmates its contents: "Hi my love, we are missing you so much and really needing some papa hugs, but glad you're sharing them with your campmates.
"The girls are enjoying sports and throwing themselves into everything at the moment and the little man is loving life, smashing it up, learning some new words. Z, M, L and L. x."
Aside from "my love", Mike confessed "munchkin" is another of their sweet names.
"We basically call each other munchkins a lot. I don’t know why that started but it has stuck," Mike said on the Total Sport Podcast, but there was another secret nickname that he alluded to during the chat, suggesting that Zara may want to keep the cheeky name under wraps.
"I will let Zara decide whether she wants to give away what I am down in her phone as…" he said, turning to professional equestrian Zara who replied: "When he's not listening to munchkin or Mikey, it becomes Michael Tindall when there's no response."
She coyly added: "He is in my phone as something else and it ends with kitten," and Mike quipped: "You can fill the first word in!"
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