Kate Middleton “Still Plays” This Drinking Game With The Royal Family, Mike Tindall Says

Mike Tindall has done it again. The former rugby player, royal in-law and professional over-sharer has given the public another little peek behind the palace curtain. This time, he has revealed that Kate Middleton “still plays” Prosecco pong with the family.

According to People, Tindall made the comment in a new interview with Woman & Home, where he talked about how competitive the royal family can be. He said sport runs through the family and then turned to Kate as his example.

On its own, this is not exactly a constitutional crisis. Adults are allowed to drink, and they are certainly allowed to play silly party games. But the timing is interesting.

Just two months earlier, Kate reportedly said during a brewery visit with Prince William that she had become “a lot more conscious” about alcohol since her cancer diagnosis. She said she had not had much alcohol since then and asked whether non-alcoholic beers were available.

That is a perfectly reasonable thing to say. Health comes first. After cancer treatment, many people reassess what they eat, drink, and prioritise. There is nothing scandalous about that. What is worth discussing is how the royal press frames it.

Mike Tindall’s Prosecco Pong Comment Adds To The Palace Fog

Kate Middleton is always up for a particular drinking game.

Retired England rugby union player Mike Tindall, 47, who is married to Prince William’s cousin Zara Tindall, made the claim in a new interview with Woman & Home.

“I knew that the Princess of Wales was uber competitive because I’d seen her play a drinking game called beer pong, but normally we play Prosecco pong! She still plays it with us,” he said.

However, Princess Kate recently revealed that she scaled back alcohol after her cancer diagnosis in 2024.

The Princess of Wales briefly spoke about the lifestyle change during a visit to the Southwark Brewing Company in London with Prince William in March. There, Kate shared, “Since my diagnosis, I haven’t had much alcohol. It’s something I have to be a lot more conscious of now.”

People

When Palace Privacy Turns Into Public Confusion

So let’s look at the timeline, not to question anyone’s health, but to understand why palace communications keep creating confusion.

March 2024: Kate announces that after her January abdominal surgery, which the palace had initially told the public was for a non-cancerous condition, tests later revealed that cancer had been present. She begins a course of preventative chemotherapy. That is what she said. The palace has never provided specific details about the type or stage of cancer, citing privacy. Which is perfectly fine. But the lack of clarity has allowed gaps to form.

First, the Mother’s Day photo, and remember, this happened before the public knew about her diagnosis, even though she and the palace already knew. Kensington Palace released a family picture that major news agencies retracted because it had been digitally manipulated. Kate apologised, saying she’d experimented with editing. Which is also a bit odd: a mother who, behind closed doors, was already dealing with a cancer diagnosis and preparing for treatment somehow found time to Photoshop family photos for public consumption. For many people, that moment damaged trust in palace communications. If a simple family photo can’t be released without changes, what else is being carefully managed?

Then there was the confusion around language. Some outlets briefly used phrases like “pre-cancerous cells” before clarifying. The palace pushed back, but the back-and-forth created the impression of shifting stories, even if the underlying medical facts never actually changed.

In September 2024, Kate released a video statement saying she had completed chemotherapy. She did not say she was cancer‑free. She said: “Doing what I can to stay cancer-free is now my focus. Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long.” She then gradually returned to public duties. In January 2025, she announced she was in remission. None of that is inconsistent. But the palace’s long periods of silence, punctuated by carefully staged appearances, have left room for speculation.

And then there is the alcohol contrast, not a contradiction, but a classic example of how royal messaging can seem at odds with itself. In March 2026, during a brewery visit, Kate reportedly said she had not had much alcohol since her diagnosis and had become “a lot more conscious” of it. That aligns with standard medical advice for cancer patients and survivors.

Then, just weeks later, Mike Tindall tells a magazine that Kate is “uber competitive” and still plays Prosecco pong with the family. Playing a drinking game does not automatically mean heavy drinking. Kate could be using non‑alcoholic Prosecco. She could be taking tiny sips. Mike could be speaking loosely. “Not much alcohol” does not mean “none.”

Final Thoughts

The issue is that the palace and the royals around them keep sending mixed signals. One moment, the message is careful, health‑conscious, almost clinical. Next, a family member casually mentions competitive drinking games. Neither is a scandal on its own. But together, they create a fog.

The edited photo, the shifting language, the vague timeline, and the alcohol contrast, each can all be explained. But the pattern of opacity feeds the very speculation the palace claims to want to avoid.

The Prosecco pong is not a scandal. It is another reminder that palace image‑making, with its carefully curated statements and its looser “fun uncle” anecdotes, often creates more questions than it answers. And until the institution decides to be straightforward, those questions will keep coming.