Kate Middleton is a big sports fan, and it turns out she’s got a real drive to win — even when it’s not on a field.
During a recent episode of former rugby star Mike Tindall’s podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, Kate was joined by Prince William and Princess Ann for a fun, lively conversation.
Tindall is actually married to Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara, making Anne his mother-in-law and William his cousin. This familiarity brought an unexpected level of candor to their chat, with some interesting revelations.
While asking Kate about her athletic spirit, Mike joked, “I’m not going to say you’re uber competitive… but…”
“I’m not competitive at all,” Kate replied with a wry, coy tone, to which Mike shot back, “I’ve seen her play beer pong!”
That being said, Kate admitted that she and her husband can, from time to time, dig their heels in when it comes to going head-to-head at sports.
“I don’t think we’ve managed to finish a game of tennis, the two of us,” Kate said. “It becomes a mental challenge between the two of us.”
Apparently, according to the prince, it becomes a game of “who can out-mental each other.”
She also seems to have something of a competitive edge with herself, trying to push her comfort levels, specifically when it comes to swimming in ice-cold water.
“Cold swimming — the colder, the better. I absolutely love it,” she shared. “Slightly to the point where William’s [going] ‘You’re crazy!’ Like it’s dark and raining… I will go and seek out cold water. I love it.”
According to Middleton, she and her entire family are just fans of getting outside, staying fit and being active.
“I suppose as a family we were just very active,” she shared. “I can always remember being physical, using our bodies, whether it’s walking, climbing the lake district in Scotland, swimming from a young age… [my parents] always encouraged us to be physically active and sporty and they always encouraged us into doing team sports and trying things.”
Evidently, she and William are similarly encouraging of their own children — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
In fact, Princess Charlotte is currently playing both rugby and soccer and is passionate about both sports.
“Charlotte’s playing both the sports now, and it’s really good to see youngsters, particularly girls, playing these types of sports now,” Kate said, adding that, when she was younger, those “weren’t school sports when I was growing up.”
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