Mike Tindall made his first public appearance since the death of his beloved father when he attended the annual Laver Cup with his wife, Zara, over the weekend.
The 47-year-old former England rugby star joined Zara, 45, at London’s O2 Arena on September 25 for the opening day of the men’s tennis tournament, where he reunited with his close friend and event co-founder, Roger Federer.
The outing came days after Mike announced that his father, Phil, had died aged 80 following what he described as a “brutal” 20-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.
“Unfortunately, my dad passed away last week,” Mike said on his podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, on September 23.
During the episode, Mike also expressed his gratitude to Otley Rugby Club in West Yorkshire for honouring his father with a special tribute.
“Big shout-out to Otley Rugby Club. They played Chester on the weekend, and they did a minute’s silence to my dad, who was captain in ’72, ’73,” he said.
At the Laver Cup, Mike appeared to celebrate his father’s enduring passion for sport as he watched the tennis and posed with players Learner Tien, Francisco Cerundolo and Casper Ruud.
Mike, who married Princess Anne’s daughter in 2011, looked smart in a black suit jacket and white trousers. Zara complemented him in a navy pinstripe Veronica Beard Battista Dickey blazer.
Mike Tindall, left, made his first public appearance since the death of his beloved father when he attended the annual Laver Cup with his wife Zara and met event co-founder and close friend Roger Federer
Mike, who married Princess Anne’s daughter in 2011, appeared at the tennis tournament alongside players Learner Tien, Francisco Cerundolo and Casper Ruud as he honoured his father’s love of sport
Zara and Mike, who share a passion for sport, watched intently from the stands as the three-day tournament began
She completed the outfit with Veronica Beard Heyser high-waisted trousers and a light blue blouse by L’Agence.
Zara finished the look with Dower and Hall wide waterfall huggie hoop earrings and a navy Lottie Bag from Aspinal of London.
The couple were later seen speaking with Roger Federer after the men’s singles group-stage match between Team Europe’s Rafael Jodar and Team World’s Alexander Bublik.
Both Zara and Mike appeared absorbed in the action as they watched from the stands on the first day of the three-day competition.
Founded by Roger Federer in 2017, the Laver Cup was modelled on golf’s Ryder Cup. The tournament brings together six of the leading men’s players from Europe to face six competitors representing the rest of the world.
The appearance followed a difficult week for Mike, who is mourning Phil, a talented rugby player with deep connections to Otley, the Yorkshire town where his son was born.
Phil made his first-team debut at just 17 during the 1963-64 season, playing at fly-half and centre before captaining the side in 1972-73.
In the emotional podcast episode, Mike also recalled a story from his father’s younger years, revealing that Phil suffered a serious injury shortly before he married Mike’s mother, Linda.
Mike, pictured with his parents Phil and Linda in 2009, recently revealed that his father died aged 80 following a “brutal” two-decade battle with Parkinson’s disease
Princess Anne and Phil Tindall attend the wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall in July 2011. Phil had lived with Parkinson’s for more than two decades after being diagnosed in 2003 – the same year his son helped England win the Rugby World Cup
He said: ‘He got married in ’69, broke his leg the week before, went down the aisle in a cast. I mean, it sort of all went wrong. He had to retire at 27.’
Phil had lived with Parkinson’s for more than two decades after being diagnosed in 2003 – the same year his son helped England win the Rugby World Cup.
The illness became a major cause for Mike, who has been a patron of Cure Parkinson’s since 2018 and has repeatedly raised money and awareness for research into the condition.
Only four months ago, Mike gave a bleak update on his father’s health, saying Parkinson’s had taken a devastating toll.
‘My dad is not doing great at the moment,’ he said in May. ‘Parkinson’s is brutal and there is no let-up from how it attacks the body and changes people.’
He said that after more than 23 years with the condition, Phil had been left ‘a shell of what he once was’.
Mike’s mother Linda, a former social worker, had taken on much of Phil’s care as his condition had began to worsen.
In 2021, during a conversation with the Duchess of Gloucester, Mike revealed that the decline in his father’s health had become particularly marked around the time of his 2011 wedding to Zara, when Phil needed a wheelchair for parts of the day.
Mike explained problems caused by the condition had affected his father’s spine and discs and had made moving around increasingly difficult.
Indicative of his commitment to fundraising for the disease, Mike was back out raising money for Cure Parkinson’s via his annual ISPS Handa Mike Tindall Celebrity Golf Classic event in May.
Mike’s annual event also supports the sporting-injury charity The Matt Hampson Foundation – named after professional rugby player Hampson, 41, who is paralysed from the neck down after a rugby accident at the age of 20.
