Chuckling King Charles has the best reaction to Mike Tindall’s Ascot hat mishap

Royal Ascot is an incredible place for royal watching, and I adored seeing members of Britain’s most famous family up close on Tuesday when I attended day one of the prestigious races. I had my phone poised to capture King Charles and Queen Camilla arriving in their horse-drawn carriage and kept it rolling as they milled around the parade ring. And lucky I did, as I captured the hilarious moment King Charles was left chuckling at Mike Tindall’s blunder.

Just as Charles moved over to greet the rugby star, Mike dropped something out of his top hat as he tipped it as a polite gesture. The pair shared a laugh and a chat about it, and then Mike gave His Majesty a closer look. I couldn’t believe my eyes as the object in question appeared to be a miniature top hat, but after a little research, it transpires that this is in fact a pre-planned prank of Mike’s – and it’s one he’s pulled at Ascot before.

The mini hat supposedly contains chocolates, and he presented one to King Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2019. Mike, who is now a podcaster after retiring from rugby, is well-known for his great sense of humour and it seems like this is just one in a long line of pranks. 

When the star guest-edited the comic, The Beano, he revealed that his wife and kids are targets for his tricks. He wrote: “My job now is being a dad and I love it. It’s important to set a good example, so I play pranks on the kids and their mum. I love hiding and jumping out to scare them. It works best on mum – she screams SO loudly!”

The royal bromance 

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When my video began to circulate online, fans adored the cute interaction between the pair. “I love how chummy they are with each other. So cool!” wrote one user on X (formerly known as Twitter). Another added: “No pretence with Tinds and you can clearly see Charles absolutely loves him – a very rare glimpse of these two interacting and I’m loving it!” A third added: “The banter between these two is so lovely to see, Zara picked a good one in Mike. Zara has the same relationship with the king and Queen, but then look how close Charles is with his sister Anne.” We look forward to seeing more gentle banter between these two gents in the future!