July 11, 2011. Copyright 2011, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Royal wedding season continues as Zara Phillips weds Mike Tindall
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, July 11, Graphic News:  For those Britons who waited for years for a royal wedding, two have come along at once. Three months after Prince William and Kate Middleton tied the knot in London, the Queen's eldest granddaughter Zara Phillips is preparing to marry her partner, England rugby player Mike Tindall, at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh on July 30.

After the fanfare and pomp of that other wedding on April 29, theirs is likely to be a private affair, despite initial reports that Zara might follow in the footsteps of her brother Peter, who raised royal eyebrows after he sold the rights to his wedding to Hello! magazine. Indeed, some have suggested that Zara and Mike timed the announcement of their plans to cause minimum fuss, while the spotlight was still on William and Kate.

If so, that would appear to be characteristic of Zara, 30, who is seen as one of the more down to earth members of the extended royal family. The second child of Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips, Zara is successful in her own right as an equestrian: she is a former World and European Eventing Champion and, like her mother, she has won BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Princess Anne has always insisted her children carry no title, and Zara was sent to a local primary school to mix with ordinary kids before being educated at Gordonstoun in Scotland and Exeter University, where she trained as an equine physiotherapist. Her hard work in her sport, apparent easy-going nature and fashion savvy have made Zara (who is 13th in line to the throne) one of the more popular younger royals.

Her earlier, stormy relationship with jockey Richard Johnson made her a regular fixture in the tabloid press, where she was portrayed as the royal rebel. But all that changed after she met Tindall at a bar in Australia during the Rugby World Cup in 2003, and the pair lived for several years in a cottage on her mother's Gatcombe estate in Gloucestershire before buying a home of their own in Cheltenham in 2009.

Mike Tindall, 32, is the son of a finance officer and social worker, who grew up in Leeds. He plays rugby for England and Gloucestershire, and has been credited with persuading Zara to take her own sporting talent seriously.

With two drink driving offences behind him and a reputation for toughness on the field, where he has sustained several serious injuries, Mike Tindall, or “Tinman”, is considered far from the typical royal suitor -- a factor that has brought well wishes to the couple from many who don't usually consider themselves fans of the monarchy.
/ENDS