Princess Anne ‘watches’ Mike Tindall in I’m A Celebrity and ‘finds him funny’, royal expert says

The former rugby player recently shared a story about ‘sl**dropping’ in front of his mother-in-law

The Princess Royal will find watching her son-in-law Mike Tindall’s stint on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! “funny”, a royal expert has claimed.

Jennie Bond, who was previously the BBC’s royal correspondent, said Princess Anne “has more of a sense of humour than we recognise” amid concerns that Tindall has been too candid while on the show.

It comes after the former rugby player, who is married to Zara Tindall, recounted a story in which he once “sl**dropped” in front of Anne and accidentally ripped his trousers.

Tindall told his fellow campmates that he had been wearing boxers with the words “nibble my nuts” at the time and Anne responded to the hilarious incident by walking away and saying: “I’d rather not”.

While fans found Tindall’s story funny, it sparked a heated debate among Good Morning Britain (GMB) guests last week about whether he was sharing appropriate things about the royal family.

Former BBC royal correspondent Michael Cole described the sportsman as “demeaning himself and diminishing the royal family by being on this show” and added that Anne “won’t be welcoming that story”.

But Bond disagreed, telling OK! Magazine that Anne “can be very stern” but is “actually one of the most natural people within the family unit”.

“She will laugh, she will joke and I think she’d probably find his antics in the jungle quite funny,” she continued. “I don’t think she will be offended in the least about the underpants story.”

The journalist added that, while Anne is unlikely to watch I’m A Celebrity every night, she is “very close to her children and I imagine she will want to know what’s going on so she can share the experience with Zara”.

The cast of ‘I’m A Celebrity’ – so far... (ITV)

During the GMB segment, which aired on Wednesday (16 November), Tindall was also defended by his co-host on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast, James Haskell.

Haskell told Cole that he thought the story “humanised” Anne, adding: “You know, tearing his trousers is embarrassing and she’s come back with the best retort ever, and you’re just like, Wow, what a woman’.”

Tindall also stirred up trouble when he described politicians as “f***ers” on the show.

In a frank conversation with campmate Seann Walsh on Tuesday night’s (15 November) episode, he said: “I just think all politicians are f***ers. I mean, for them to even have the conversation just because they’re all Boris fans that didn’t like how Boris was ousted that you won’t pick the best person for the job, that sums politicians up.”

It has been reported that Tindall “breached royal protocol” because members of the British royal family generally do not comment on politics publicly in order to stay impartial.