Zara Tindall’s husband Mike Tindall wearing medals on Queen Elizabeth’s funeral received online hate. Mike Tindall has not served in military and he is an ex-rugby player. His medals at the Queen’s funeral service became the topic of discussion and backlash as in what regards he wore the medals?
Responding to online hate and controversary, he said it was ‘unnecessary’ reaction on social media. Mike Tindall hosts a podcast The Good, The Bad and The Rugby along with James Haskell and Alex Payne. The co-hosts raised the question on recent medal controversary on social media, to which he said I hate wearing medals. It’s just that the dress code for mourning is strict, either you wear a military uniform or mourning suit.
His co-hosts asked him in a fun way that how many years he had served in Afghanistan? Mike said you also class medals as military honors. But in reality the one who is married into the royal family also gets medals on Jubilee events. He confirmed that he hasn’t served in military to achieve those medals apart from being in the family. He also shared that any one who works or enters in the royal family receives a medal. Other than that all those who have served in armed forces actively for five years get a Jubilee medal.
Mike Tindall wore three medals on Queen’s funeral which were the MBE, Diamond Jubilee and Platinum Jubilee medal.
He received a medal as Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2007 for acknowledging his efforts in the sport. His consistent top-level performance was also appreciated in his generation. He started playing in 1997 and made a winning debut in national team against Ireland in 2000. He also participated in the historic Rugby World Cup triumph in 2003 which was won by England. The match was also memorable for Mike as he met his future wife Zara Tindall that evening in Sydney.
He got married to Zara Philips in 2011 and officially became part of the royal family. In 2012, it was marked as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrating the 60th anniversary of Queen’s reign. As part of the royal family, he got a Jubilee medal.
Another Jubilee medal, he received was on Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 marking her 70th anniversary as a British monarch.
He shared in his podcast that Jubilee medals are very hard to earn in military unless you serve for five years in the army or longer period of time. But both the Jubilee medals, he received were part of royal protocols given to him in honor of being part of royal family. He said he can’t control what he wears as the dress code is very strict and that he hated wearing the medals anyway.
The twitter was exploded with questions on his appearance at the Queen’s funeral. He responded to the online twitter controversary in a very subtle way in his recent podcast. He said you people could have asked me instead and I would have answered you in person. There was no need of this ‘unnecessary’ backlash.