Mike and Zara Tindall live at Aston Farm on the Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire, which also occupies Princess Anne's property with her husband Sir Timothy Laurence and her brother Peter Phillips' family home.
As well as offering lots of opportunities for family gatherings, the rural location also has plenty of other activities so Mike and Zara's young children, Mia, 11, Lena, six, and Lucas, four, "keep busy."
During an exclusive interview with HELLO!, former England rugby star Mike shared an insight into their family life away from the cameras, admitting Anne's 700-acre estate acts as a "playground" for their children.
"We all spend a lot of time outside with horses, dogs, chickens and all sorts of other things to keep the kids busy.
© Getty"We’re incredibly lucky with where we live and how the countryside is such a huge part of our lives, which gives the kids a fantastic playground," he said at an annual charity golf event at The Belfry in Warwickshire. Take a look at some of their playful family photos at Gatcombe...
© GettyIce cream stop
There's always an opportunity for an ice cream stop during a horse event, as Mia proved at the Whatley Manor Gatcombe International Horse Trials.
© GettyShoulder rides
Doting dad Mike Tindall gave baby Lena the best view in the house, carrying her on his shoulders at the 2019 Festival of British Eventing.
© David Hartley/ShutterstockTrampoline playtime
Making the most of the stands at the 2023 Magic Millions Festival of British Eventing, Lucas bounced on the trampoline as his mother held a truck toy in her hand.
© GettyAuntie duties
Zara Tindall was spotted playin with her niece Savannah at the Gatcombe Horse Trials back in 2012.
Princess Anne's concern
While Mike looks at the positive side of his conveniently located home, his mother-in-law, Princess Anne, has previously expressed "concern" about her own property.
The Grade II-listed property, which reportedly features five main bedrooms, four secondary bedrooms, four reception rooms, a library, a billiard room and a conservatory, was gifted to her and her first husband, Mark Phillips, by her late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
© GettyIn a resurfaced interview with Country Life magazine in 2009, the King's sister discussed balancing her home life with the working farm and nearby events such as the Festival of British Eventing.
"I do worry that one day we'll be told that we can't have organic status any more," she said. "Even picking up people’s hay and other rubbish from their (horse) lorries could threaten our organic status. And having the great British public tramping around is hardly organic," she said.
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Mike and Zara's home
Aston Park has been the Tindalls' home since 2013, and it holds a special place in their heart. Not only was it formerly Zara's father Mark's home, where he lived following his split from Anne, but it also holds special memories of their son Lucas' birth.
The little boy had a dramatic birth story, with Zara welcoming her son on 21 March 2021 in their bathroom at home with her long-term friend and bridesmaid, Dolly Maude.
© GC ImagesSpeaking on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast, doting father Mike said: "Arrived very quickly. Didn’t make it to hospital. On the bathroom floor.
"So yeah, it was running to the gym, get a mat, get into the bathroom, get the mat on the floor, towels down, brace, brace, brace."
Mike also added that midwife Dolly was able to provide her expertise in what could have become a stressful situation.
"She was there and recognised that we wouldn’t have got to hospital in time," Mike said, explaining that their youngest children were not present since Zara had been having contractions through the night.
"Fortunately, the midwife who was going to meet us at the hospital wasn’t that far away so she drove up just as we had assumed the posit (position) and the second midwife arrived just after the head had arrived."
Gushing over the home birth, he revealed: "The best thing about being at home, the best thing was, as soon as he’s wrapped up, he’s skin on skin, straight downstairs. TV room. Golf on. This is what we’re doing."
