This Royal Admits He Loves "Jumping Out to Scare" His Kids and Wife: "She Screams SO Loudly!"

Kate Middleton, Prince William, Mike Tindall, Zara Tindall and Princess Beatrice walking to church in blue outfits on Easter 2019 — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Being a member of the Royal Family doesn't mean you can't have a sense of humor, as Zara Tindall's husband, Mike Tindall shared in his guest editor letter for Beano, a weekly British comic magazine for kids. In fact, the former England rugby player revealed that he loves to "play pranks" on his Olympian wife, whose mother is Princess Anne.

"My job now is being a dad and I love it," Mike—who shares kids Lena, Mia, and Lucas with wife Zara—wrote in the children's magazine. "It’s important to set a good example, so I play pranks on the kids and their mum."

The rugby star, who is known for his down-to-earth sense of humor, added that Zara seems to fall for his jokes—and has a rather loud scream.

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"I love hiding and jumping out to scare them," he wrote. "It works best on mum—she screams SO loudly! The kids’ favourite prank is to hide under the table and tie people’s shoelaces together!"

Mike Tindall wearing a blue suit holding hands with Zara Tindall, wearing a pink dress and holding hands with daughters Mia and Lena walking to church on Easter — The Tindalls, seen walking to church with the Royal Family on Easter 2023, love a good prank.

Mike Tindall, wearing a brown coat and red tie, and Zara Tindall, wearing a blue pinstriped suit and holding an umbrella, holding hands with Lucas tindall, who is standing in between his parents and scowling — Zara and Mike were seen with son Lucas at the 2025 New Year's Day Racing Meet at Cheltenham Racecourse.

The Tindalls aren't the only royals who love a good joke. The family can't resist cheap gag gifts on Christmas, as Princess Diana found out the hard way during her first year visiting Balmoral for the holidays. Once she was clued in to the tradition, she reportedly gifted Sarah Ferguson a leopard-print bath mat, per the Mirror.

Prince Harry famously gave Queen Elizabeth a shower cap that read "Ain't life a bitch" for Christmas one year, while Princess Kate hilariously presented him with a "grow your own girlfriend" kit.

Like Mike Tindall, Princess Diana was said to be a fan of pranks, and per her former hairdresser, used to trick her staff on the regular. "She would always keep fake vomit and she would put it into the private secretary's briefcase, and dog poop down the corridor..." Richard Dalton told Fox News.

She also played an epic—and embarrassing—joke on Prince William at Christmas one year, as former royal butler Paul Burrell told Marie Claire in 2024. Burrell said that when it came to Harry and William's Christmas stockings, "Diana was very jokey and she would put rude things in there too to embarrass them. William had a calendar one year with naked ladies on it just to make him blush and it worked."

Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.