Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Zara Tindall speaks out about miscarriage: 'The hardest thing is that everyone knew'

'It’s been a horrible road but, you know, actually now we've come out the end of it, hopefully it makes you a stronger family'

Rachel Hosie
Friday 07 September 2018 16:35 BST
Comments
Zara Tindall opens up about miscarriage

Zara Tindall has spoken out about how suffering a miscarriage actually made her relationship with husband Mike stronger.

Three months after giving birth to her baby, Lena Elizabeth, Tindall gave an interview to BBC Breakfast presenter Sally Nugent.

In the interview, the former Olympian and granddaughter to the Queen revealed how suffering two miscarriages affected her and her relationship.

“I think that's the hardest thing in our situation, is that everyone knew,” she said. “And very much when things like that happen, normally it’s just your family and friends, but unfortunately everyone knew about it.

She and ex-England rugby captain Mike received a lot of support from the public though.

“Actually I had so many letters saying ‘I’m so sorry, we’ve been through the same thing’, which was incredible - and thank you to all those people,” Tindall continued.

“But it just showed how often it does happen and I have a very supportive family, Mike’s incredible – and it’s hard for the guys too.

“It’s very different for us because we’re carrying the child, but for guys I guess it’s kind of that helpless feeling, which must be incredibly high and horrible for them. At the end of the day they’ve still lost a child too.”

She continued: “Being helpless is horrible isn’t it ... for anyone. It’s been a horrible road but, you know, actually now we've come out the end of it, hopefully it makes you a stronger family.”

In November 2016, the royal revealed that the pregnancy she’d announced the previous month had sadly ended in miscarriage.

And in July this year, Tindall said that she’d suffered a second miscarriage before becoming pregnant with Lena.

She also revealed that she was “so uncomfortable” when heavily pregnant at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle earlier this year.

“She [Lena] was quite active during the whole service,” Tindall explained. “She was kicking a lot.”

Many viewers of the royal wedding noted Tindall’s somewhat pained facial expression - we now know the cause.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in