Zara Tindall, and her husband Michael, welcomed their first child on January 17 and have named their daughter Mia Grace. Mia was born at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester, and weighed 3.5 kg (7lb 12 oz). She is the Queen’s fourth great grandchild, and is sixteenth in line to the throne. She will not have a royal title, and is to be known as Miss Mia Tindall.
Zara is the daughter of Princess Anne, and the granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth. She is an accomplished equestrian who has won many medals, and was the Eventing World Champion between 2006 and 2010. She competed at the 2012 London Olympics on her horse High Kingdom, where she won silver for team eventing – the medal was presented to her by her mother. She is also a horse trainer, and has designed her own line of equestrian clothing.
Michael or “Mike” is a rugby union player who has played for both Bath and Gloucester, as well for the English national team. Last year he was selected for the Barbarians on their tour against England, when he served as captain. Zara and Mike met in Australia in 2003, during the Rugby World Cup, which England won. They were engaged in 2010, and their wedding took place on July 30 2011 at the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The name Mia wasn’t expected by the punters, who were tipping Anne, Elizabeth, Zara, Sophia, Ava, Emma or Poppy. Princess Anne’s family has always preferred informality, and Mia Grace seems very much in line with her cousins Savannah and Isla Phillips, the daughters of Zara’s brother Peter.
