This is the moment Mike Tindall was surprised by Princess Anne during his new ITV reality show Grand Slammers.
The husband of King Charles’ niece Zara and former rugby international, 44, appears alongside other players from the England Rugby team that won the 2003 World Cup in the two-part series, set to start airing on Wednesday.
Mike and his teammates entered HMP The Mount prison and attempted to build and train a team of inmates strong enough to compete against a formidable rival, the Australians.
In a clip from the programme, Mike is seen talking to fellow rugby player Martin Johnson on the phone while at Royal Ascot with teammate Phil Vickery.
Following their conversation, the players notice the Princess Royal, 73, who is Mike’s mother-in-law, enter the room. Surprised, Mike says: ‘Oh, sorry. Do you want to join in, we’re teaching a prison rugby team how to play.
‘You can join the coaching staff if you’d like,’ he tells Princess Anne, while Phil adds: ‘You could be our team manager.’
A glamorous Princess Anne responds: ‘Oh, thanks very much. What’s the scheme?,’ to which Mike explains: ‘We’re going in and trying to coach and then they’re playing the guards.
‘I’ve seen a project elsewhere but it’s really difficult to keep them going,’ replies the King’s sister, before asking: ‘Am I allowed out?’
While helping the royal leave the room, Mike says: ‘Yes, you are allowed out, of course you are,’ to which the princess replies: ‘I have come to watch the racing.’
In the two-part documentary, members of the 2003 side including captain Martin Johnson, Jonny Wilkinson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Jason Robinson, Will Greenwood, Ben Cohen and Matt Dawson attempt to build and train a team of prisoners to be strong enough to compete against the Australians.
Playing out over two consecutive nights, Grand Slammers sees the players enter HMP The Mount – home to one of the only remaining rugby pitches inside an adult male English prison.
The sportsmen are aiming to show their novices the spirit of rugby and its broad appeal with all the camaraderie, intensity, emotion, buzz and laughter that comes with being part of a team focused on a common goal.
Revealing why he decided to take part in the programme, Mike said: ‘Rugby has given me so much in my life, and been a fundamental part in carving out who I am as a person.
‘Sport has the power to change lives and with rugby I believe it’s a game that accepts everyone and makes everyone feel part of something – it has the ability to help anyone’s journey.
‘So when they came to me with this concept, combined with doing it with the 2003 guys, it felt like a really interesting thing to do.’
He added: ‘The show highlighted that even though sport has the ability to change lives, with prisons growing in size it means playing fields are getting lost to accommodate more prisoners which makes it harder to use sport as a way to rehabilitate and keep people from coming back.’
Grand Slammers was commissioned for ITV by Kate Teckman, Head of Development, Factual Entertainment.
According to Kate: ‘In this new series we’ll see some of the greatest sporting heroes England has ever produced reunite on the pitch for the first time in 20 years to go into a prison and build a rugby a team with men who live their lives behind bars.
‘For some of these England legends, rugby presented a positive pathway and an opportunity to fulfil their potential.
‘So, with re-offending rates from ex-prisoners at an alarming level, these World Cup winners are engaging with young men who’ve made big mistakes to show them how the game they love can offer the possibility of taking positive steps to move forward.
‘At a moment when rugby will be in the spotlight, during this autumn’s Rugby World Cup, Grand Slammers will provide a revealing insight into both England’s legends and the power of the sport that has defined so much of their lives.’
Grand Slammers ITV1 & ITVX 9pm Weds 27th & Thurs 28th September
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