Zara Tindall reveals she suffered secret second miscarriage shortly after she lost an unborn child in 2016
The Queen's eldest granddaughter explained her first miscarriage was doubly tough because the pregnancy had been made public
ZARA Tindall has revealed she suffered a second miscarriage shortly after losing her unborn child in 2016.
The Queen’s eldest granddaughter, 37, spoke of her secret second heartache before she gave birth to daughter Lena.
Zara, who also has a daughter Mia, four, with ex-rugby star Mike Tindall, announced she was pregnant with her second child in 2016 but a spokeswoman revealed she had sadly lost the child.
She said: “I think you need to go through a period where you don’t talk about it because it’s too raw.
“But, as with everything, time’s a great healer.”
Princess Anne’s daughter Zara, explained her first miscarriage was doubly tough because the pregnancy had been made public - the rule for descendants of the Queen.
But she said she found comfort in people writing to her saying they had been through the same experience.
She said: "
In our case, it was something that was really rare; it was nature saying, ‘This one’s not right.’
“I had to go through having the baby because it was so far along.”
When she lost the second baby, the couple were able to mourn in private.
Second daughter Lena was born last month.
The equestrian champion, who was named Sports Personality of the Year in 2006, said her older brother Peter Phillips was very "protective" of her, as was husband Mike.
She told The Sunday Times: “It was a time when my family came to the fore and I needed them.”
Zara’s brave decision to speak publicly about her double loss was praised by Ruth Bender-Atik, national director of the Miscarriage Association.
She said: “We are getting better at talking about what is still something of a taboo subject so it can be helpful; when someone in the public eye discusses their own experience as Zara Tindall has done.”
Zara’s hubby Mike, the former Gloucester Rugby and England captain, said about miscarriage last year: “One thing you do learn is how many other people have to go through the same thing.
“The saving grace for us has been Mia. However down we feel, she will come running up in our faces.”
Zara and Mike, who live on the Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire, were married in 2011 in Edinburgh.
She became the first senior member of the Royal Family to sell photographs of their baby, Mia Grace, to a celebrity magazine - for a reported fee of £150,000.
Zara won the 2006 eventing world championships and a silver medal for Britain at the London 2012 Olympics.