Zara Tindall's 'nightmare' confession about country home on Princess Anne's 730-acre estate

There are perks and downfalls of living near your family and your work, as Zara Tindall candidly confessed in an unearthed interview.

The Olympic equestrian lives on Aston Farm with her husband Mike Tindall and their three kids Mia, Lena and Lucas. Located on Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate, it is just a stone's throw from the main home, where her mother lives with her second husband, Sir Timothy Laurence, and her brother Peter Phillips' family property. 

While this makes for easy socialising, especially thanks to the converted "party barn" in the centre, it also comes with added pressures, with the park hosting several equestrian events attended by her family.

Opening up about her "nightmare" at home, she admitted to Vogue: "Drinking the night before [competing], what was I thinking? Riding around Gatcombe, I don’t know why I do it. It’s always a nightmare riding around home."

© Max Mumby/Indigo

On the subject of the Festival of British Eventing, she said the easy commute isn't always beneficial. "It’s hard work because it’s a busy week anyway, and being at home, not very far away from home, the horses don’t really concentrate like they normally do if they go in the box and go on the truck for two hours," Zara said.

Her brother Peter backed her up, adding that she is also balancing being a doting mother of three at home.

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"It’s probably a bit more stressful for her," he said, noting: "This is a family event and having her kids come and help with the set-up and then see her compete just reiterates that is what it is."

Zara and Mike's guesthouse

© Tim Graham, Getty

The Princess Royal received the 700-acre sprawling estate as a wedding gift from her late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in the 1970s.

As well as boasting homes for her children and grandchildren, a smaller property named The Bothy also sits on the land, and it holds a special place in Mike and Zara's hearts. 

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The couple were thought to have lived at the traditional, two-storey stone building when they were courting. There have been no reports that anyone else has moved into the accommodation, so it could act as the ideal guesthouse for visitors.

Australian escape

When they're not at home, Mike and Zara like to spend time in Australia for the Magic Millions horse racing event on the Gold Coast.

While they have previously kept details of their accommodation overseas under wraps, Mike confessed he was staying at the Remi Residences, which boasts a portfolio of 49 "oversized residences" near the beach.

Zara previously told HELLO! why she and husband Mike, who first met at a bar in Sydney, continue to make the sunshine destination their second home each January. 

"We have always loved Australia, and it is like a home from home for us. We have been coming to Queensland for so long now it has become a tradition for the start of the year."