Unexpected family reunion for the Royal Family – and Prince William opens up on what left him 'in pieces'

An unexpected treat took place for fans of the Royal Family this weekend, as Princess Anne joined her son-in-law, Mike Tindall, for a recording of his podcast. That wasn’t the only royal treat – Prince William and Kate Middleton also took part in the family fun, with William sharing a particularly sentimental memory involving his cousin Zara during the podcast taping in Windsor Castle.

• Prince William, Kate Middleton and Princess Anne took part in a surprise recording of Mike Tindall’s podcast this weekend

• The fun family reunion had them all sharing personal anecdotes live from Windsor Castle – including how Zara was responsible for a time when William was 'blubbing'.

• In other royal news, a very unlikely source wants to challenge Meghan Markle on her ‘great disrespect’ of the late Queen Elizabeth.

Perhaps because of the solemnity of the past few days – marking the one year anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth – senior members of the Royal Family have come together for a bit of unexpected fun.

Letting down their guard more than fans have come to expect, the members of the family were all relaxed and giggling as they took part in an episode of Mike Tindall’s podcast, The Good, The Bad and The Rugby.

While sitting around in a relaxed setting and sharing many jokes, William shared a sentimental moment involving his cousin Zara, revealing the “only time” he’s ever cried because of sports.

The Prince of Wales revealed that he burst into tears when watching his cousin, Zara, compete in her decorated equestrian career, saying, “The only time I’ve ever cried when watching sport was when Zara won I think it was the European championship.”

“I was down in Exmore at the time camping. We were all huddling around the phone watching it. She was there she was blubbing away the flag was going up. I was in pieces.”

Kate chimed in, “I can remember because you came back and said I’ve never been so proud of anyone.”

A touching memory for all of them – and it nicely led on to the lessons William hopes team sports will teach his three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

Talking about the skills you gain from “those early years of playing team sport”, William said the most important lesson is “learning to lose, which I think we've got to concentrate more on nowadays.”

“I think people don't know how to lose well. Talking about our children particularly, I want to make sure they understand that. I think it's really important from a young age to understand how to lose, and why we lose, and to grow from it and what you learn from that process.”

“But also to win well, and not boast. There's so many life lessons that help us all through life, in friendship building, in relationship building, workplace, that you gain from those early years of playing team sport.”

Now, that’s all well and good. But when it came to the Middleton side of their genetics, losing might not come naturally to the three royal children.

One of Mike’s co-hosts, rugby star James Haskell, jokes with Kate about her famously competitive nature.

A game Princess of Wales jokingly replied, “I'm not competitive at all” before revealing that she and William have never been able to complete a game of tennis because neither one is prepared to lose and sharing how it “becomes a mental challenge” between the pair.

Later on in the chat, Anne, the Princess Royal, shared how she felt watching her daughter’s burgeoning equestrian career, for which she’d eventually win a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Despite blazing that trail for Zara – herself being the first royal to ever compete at the 1976 Olympics – Princess Anne shared that her input wasn’t necessarily welcomed.

She joked that, “If I made a comment I was usually told I was a dinosaur.”