Prince William reflected on the time a family member made him cry during his recent appearance on Mike Tindall's The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast. Interviewed by James Haskell and Alex Payne, as well as his cousin-in-law Mike, the Prince of Wales was joined by Princess Kate and Princess Anne for the special recording, which took place in the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle.
Opening up about his love of sport ahead of the Rugby World Cup in France, William explained that he's only cried once while watching a sport, and it was because of his cousin Zara Tindall.
© The Good The Bad The Rugby"The only time I've ever cried watching a sport is when Zara won, I think it was the European Championship," he said. "I was in Exmoor at the time camping."
Chiming in, Princess Kate added: "Yeah I can remember because you came back and you said 'I've never been so proud of anyone.'"
© Chris JacksonA poignant and emotional moment for William, the father-of-three smiled as he recalled watching his cousin triumph. "We were all hustled around a phone watching it and she's there and she's blubbing away, the flag was going up and I was just like [in] a thousand pieces. I was so proud, and that's the thing that sport can make you do," he said.
Following in the footsteps of her parents, Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, Zara is a celebrated equestrienne, with plenty of achievements to her name. She won the Eventing World Championship in Aachen in 2006 and brought home a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics as part of Team GB's eventing team.
© ShutterstockIn fact, her team's victory at the Olympics made her the first immediate member of the royal family to win an Olympic medal. In a moment that she described as "amazing," Zara was later presented with the silver medal by her mother.
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Prince William and Zara have a mutual passion for sports, and they've always shared a close bond, so it's hardly surprising that seeing her win has brought tears to his eyes. Where possible, William has also been pictured cheering his cousin on from the sidelines, and was spotted in the crowds while Zara competed in the Eventing Team Jumping Equestrian Final in 2012.
© GettyBoth William and Kate are also good friends with Zara's husband Mike, and the four of them are on a family WhatsApp group chat. The topic came up when Mike was chatting on his podcast last year, just as Princess Kate was made the new patron of the Rugby Football Union and the Rugby Football League.
Mike said: "I text Ellis [Genge] and said, 'Mate, please tell me anything she messed up on' so I could sort of… family WhatsApp group, get to her, and he said, 'No she was actually pretty good, and she was really good at kicking,' and I was like [sighs]. But she has this competitive nature."
© Chris JacksonAt the time, the Princess had taken part in a training session with the team - and appeared to give Mike a run for his money!
The Good, The Bad & The Rugby is available on all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify
