The Royal Family’s appearance on Mike Tindall’s podcast proved they are ‘just like any family’

 A former royal correspondent has shared how The Royal Family’s appearance on Mike Tindall’s podcast proved they are ‘just like any family’ and rebutted Meghan Markle's previous claim that they are 'formal' behind closed doors. 

• A former royal correspondent has highlighted how Kate Middleton, Prince William and Princess Anne's appearance on Mike Tindall's podcast proved the royals 'have an easy relationship with one another.'
• They also shared how the appearance proved Meghan's complaints 'about how formal and standoffish she found' the family to only be proof that she did not take time 'to build up trust' and therefore a healthy relationship with them. 
• In other royal news, Meghan Markle reveals relatable parenting struggle that meant she was ‘late’ to The Invictus Games.

Kate Middleton, Prince William and Princess Anne's joint appearance on Mike Tindall's podcast The Good, the Bad and the Rugby earlier this week gave royal fans a lot to take in. 

With some of The Firm's most prominent members letting down their guard, we got to see Princess Anne and Mike Tindall’s refreshingly ‘great’ and ‘chilled’ relationship, learnt about the ‘crazy’ hobby Kate likes to do in the ‘dark’ and delighted in Kate Middleton’s discreet nod to Prince George, Charlotte and Louis that you might have missed.

The entire appearance was a delight to watch, especially considering the formal approach we usually see the royals take while on engagements. But with Mike's relaxed hosting approach and the familiar setting of Kensington Palace as their backdrop, the royals seemed to relax into the podcast and were keen to share sweet details about their family life with the world. 

Speaking about the family appearance, the BBC's former royal correspondent Jennie Bond told OK! Magazine, "Mike and his rugby colleagues have a wonderful way of teasing out little titbits about life behind the Palace walls. It’s always fascinating to get a glimpse of how the family get on with one another, and also what they get up to in private.

"The image, for example, of Princess Anne chasing William, and now his children, around the 'Balmoral Square' and often winning because she is 'good at corners' illustrates that, despite her sometimes rather stiff appearance, she’s a thoroughly fun Aunt to have around.

"The younger generation have obviously moved on from the games the late Queen and her family used to play – often card games like Racing Demon," Bond added. "They were all fiercely competitive at that, but now it seems Beer Pong is a new favourite and inspires the same competitive spirit, obviously fuelled by a bit of alcohol! It’s refreshing to think of them fooling around, enjoying such a daft game, and simply being ‘normal’.

"It can’t be that easy to look relaxed in the grand setting of Windsor Castle, but it was obvious that Mike, his mother-in-law, William and Catherine have an easy relationship with one another."

Jennie Bond also highlighted that, as well as proving the family to be 'just like any other,' the family podcast proved the claims Meghan Markle previously made in her and Harry's Netflix series to be somewhat false. 

Meghan shared in Netflix's Harry & Meghan that she found the family to be very formal even behind closed doors, saying, "I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside. That there is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door and 'phew I can relax now' but that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me."

But the podcast, Bond believes, shows this was likely just because Meghan did not take the time to build up 'trust' with the family so they felt like they could not let their guard down with her. 

Bond revealed, "The picture we got from this podcast was of a family very far removed from the one described by Meghan when she complained about how formal and standoffish she found them. 

"They are a family where trust is everything. And it obviously takes a certain amount of time to build up trust. If that surprised Meghan, then she was being naive."