Mike Tindall lifts lid on 'royal drama' and dispels big myth about late Queen

has opened up about what was really like and addressed the 'drama' surrounding the .

The former England rugby star , the late monarch's granddaughter 13 years ago and the pair have three children together. Although neither are working royals, the pair are known to be close to several members of the Firm, including the Prince and and attend most high-profile royal events. Now retired from rugby, Mike has appeared on ITV's ... Get Me Out Of Here, and hosts a podcast called The Good, The Bad and The Rugby with James Haskell and Alex Payne - with the trio releasing a brand new book, which hits shelves today.

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And in the book called The Good, The Bad and The Rugby - Unleashed, a whole chapter is dedicated to royalty - and in it Mike attempts to set the record straight about what life being part of the Firm is like - and what he experienced spending time with the late Queen.

He writes: "I'm sometimes asked if the Queen did informality like 'normal' people, and the answer to that is yes. Her life wasn't like an episode of Downton Abbey, with meals on long tables and everyone dressed in their finery every night, and Zara and I would often watch the racing with her on TV, as I'm sure lots of people reading this have done with their gran.

"Lunches were also relaxed, especially up in , where lunch would often be heading out into the open space of the Scottish Highlands for a picnic.

"There's a great picture of my daughter Mia sitting with the Duke of Edinburgh that captures exactly what those afternoons were like: members of a very close family who loved each other dearly spending precious time together. Yes, there's a lot of drama surrounding the royal family, but they aren't much different to anyone else underneath it all."

Yorkshireman Mike also divulges the royals all understood where he came from and says he was accepted 'completely'. He adds: "Believe it or not, marrying into the royal family was pretty easy for me. They were always nice to me, and I was always nice to them. Simple really."

This description is in direct contrast to , who has previously spoken out about how hard she found becoming a royal when she married Zara's cousin in 2018.controversial documentary, suggesting the Prince and Princess of Wales weren't warm towards her.

Meanwhile, it is not the first time that . In a special edition of his podcast after her death, he also reflected on the time spent with her and his 'regret'. At the time, co-host host Alex Payne asked Mike if he realised how lucky he had been to spend time in the Queen's company. Ad he replied. "I do but I have loads of regrets about not asking her so many more things and having nervousness when you get that lucky seat to sit next to her."

When asked what he would have asked her if he could, Mike replied: "Just going back through history and everything that she's possibly seen like 15 prime ministers and however many presidents it is but to go through everything. "When she is meeting dictators, she has to stay neutral and just perform her duty."

When asked if he had ever asked the Queen any of this, Mike added: "I was starting to get to that point but I hadn't barrelled in - I know you would have barrelled in. ut guaranteed, when you sit there, it's not that easy."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the book, it is revealed that landed in trouble after telling a brutal joke about 'filling in' Prince Harry. In the book, one of his podcast co-hosts and fellow former rugby player James Haskell recounts the time Mike made the savage dig at Harry during a live event several years ago.

In the book, out today, James reveals that the cheeky quip actually causes a 'minor kerfuffle'. He writes: "He [Mike] even got into a bit of trouble when he appeared on a live version of A Question of Sport: he told a story about him and Iain Balshaw pretending to punch Prince Harry at a post-World Cup final party in 2003 and joked that the royal family wanted to fill him in for real. I say trouble but it was a bit of a minor kerfuffle, nothing to write home about."

However, James adds that the whole incident would have blown over if it wasn't for Harry and Meghan Markle biographer , who stuck up for the prince, causing a social media pile on. However, James explains that when it comes to Mike, he gives 'zero f***s' about things like that.

He writes: "It did come back into public consciousness when that very odd bloke Omid Scobie started sticking up for Harry and Meghan, and loads of trolls went in on Tins, especially about him wanting to fill in a young, defenceless Harry. All context, sarcasm and humour lost, when things are taken out of the zone they were meant to be in.

"To be fair to Tins he gives zero f***s about stuff like that, but it’s very annoying for him. Royal fans can be mental. I think we all know that American royal fans are f***ing nuts, especially Scobieites."