Prince William was overcome with emotion when he watched Zara Tindall triumph in an eventing competition. The Prince of Wales, a passionate sports fan, confessed that the sight of his cousin’s emotional reaction brought tears to his eyes, even though he could only watch the moment on a phone. Speaking on the podcast ‘The Good, The Bad and The Rugby’ hosted by Zara’s husband Mike Tindall, along with Alex Payne and James Haskell, William recalled the memorable moment. He said, “The only time I’ve ever cried when watching sport was when Zara won, I think it was the European championship. I was down in Exmore at the time camping. We were all huddling around the phone watching it. She was there, she was blubbing away, the flag was going up. I was in pieces.”
William’s wife, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, chimed in and remembered how proud William was of Zara. She said, “I can remember because you came back and said, ‘I’ve never been so proud of anyone’.”
While William is a devoted fan of Premier League side Aston Villa now, he admitted that he wasn’t initially interested in football when he was younger. His passion for the sport grew as he got older, partially due to the accessibility of matches through smartphones. William said, “The first FA Cup game I went to a long time ago, I had family friends who were big Villa fans, so they took me to matches when I was younger and got me involved. At the time when I was going, I thought it was great, I loved it, but I never really got into football that much. As I’ve gotten older, I’m now addicted to it. I think the rise of the smartphone, particularly when Villa actually got relegated from the Premiership, kicked off a deep-rooted passion. I think I was missing team sports in my life, playing it, and I think it helps replace it a little bit.”
Meanwhile, Catherine, who shares three children with William, revealed that they rarely finish a game of tennis together because it becomes a mental challenge between them. Mike jokingly mentioned Catherine’s competitiveness, to which she denied. However, she later admitted, “I don’t think we’ve actually been able to finish a game of tennis. It becomes a mental challenge between the two of us.” William agreed, saying, “It is who can out-mental each other.”