30 Jul 2011

Zara Phillips and rugby star Mike Tindall marry

The Queen, Prince Charles, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were among the guests when Zara Phillips, Princess Anne’s daughter, married former England rugby captain Mike Tindall.

Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall, who were married in Edinburgh on Saturday 30 July (Reuters)

The couple were married at a ceremony in Canongate Kirk, on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, this afternoon.

The bride, 30, who is 13th in line to the throne, was given away by her father, Captain Mark Philips.

Her mother, Princess Anne, attended the ceremony with second husband Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence. Mr Tindall’s mother, Linda, and father, Phil were also there.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh attended the ceremony, as well as other senior members of the royal family including the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry, the Duke of York and his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

The bride wore an ivory silk faille and silk duchess satin gown designed by Stewart Parvin

This is the second time this year that the royal family have gathered to celebrate a wedding. April saw the wedding of Prince William, second in line to the throne, to Kate Middleton.

Interviewed on Channel 4 News, columnist Katie Grant said there was a lot of good feeling among Scots that Zara Phillips had chosen to be married in Edinburgh.

She described the newlyweds as “two great sporting celebrities” who have done wonderful things in their own right, which undoubtedly helped their image in Scotland.

Ms Grant acknowledged that today’s ceremony had been much lower-key than the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton in April.

She also suggested that there was much less republicanism in Scotland than in the past. “As the SNP have become more entrenched, I think, actually, that republicanism has diminished,” she told Carl Dinnen. “You don’t see this rabid republicanism any more.”

She concluded: “We seem a much more adult and grown-up place now, well able to have a monarchy and still feel that we’re not subjects but citizens.”