Next royal wedding a relaxed affair

Next royal wedding a relaxed affair

Her cousin Prince William's romance and wedding represented one of the world's most closely observed events this year, but Zara Phillips's engagement has been a much more relaxed affair.

Details have emerged of how tough-boy Mike Tindall, England rugby captain, popped the question to the Queen's eldest granddaughter, Zara, 30, and it wasn't a royal occasion.

"I had been thinking about it for ages," Tindall, 32, told Britain's The Mail on Sunday newspaper.

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"Then my brother got engaged and so did a certain Duke of Cambridge, so I thought I'd better get on with it.

"I was upstairs plucking up the nerve to do it, while Zara was downstairs watching television. It was all about shock value - I wanted to catch her when it was quiet and she wasn't expecting anything.

"I walked in there and got down on one knee with the ring. She was on the sofa, so that made it easier. I said, 'Will you marry me?'.

"She started laughing but she said yes. That was a relief. Saturday night, on the sofa with the dogs watching X-Men, that's what our life is like. Rock'n'roll, baby."

The couple will marry at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh on July 30 in a service expected to be attended by many of the royal family, including the Queen and William and his wife Catherine.

Following the wedding on April 29 of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - an event watched by billions of people around the globe - Zara's nuptials are expected to be quite low-key, much the same as the life she shares with Tindall.

"Our life isn't as grand as people think," Tindall said.

"We both work hard at what we do."

The solidly built Tindall, known as "Fridge" to his teammates, returns to training the day after his wedding, in preparation for rugby's World Cup.

After news of Tindall's blow-out bucks party in the US, where he and a group of mates powered through several days of boozing and visits to clubs, it's been Zara's turn to kick up her heels, with a girls' trip to Portugal.

Zara, a professional horse event rider, is pictured in various British media wearing a pink tutu in between beach sunbathing, meals and drinks.