Zara and Mike Tindall Drawn Into the Royal Spotlight — But Can They Handle the Pressure in Bigger Roles?

Mike and Zara Tindall are becoming a "buzzed about power couple" in British royal news. Thanks to King Charles III's "slimmed-down monarchy,” a lack of royals on the front lines of public service could bring the duo an upgrade "sooner than they think."

This led India Hicks, a former Princess Diana bridesmaid and daughter of Lady Pamela Hicks, to dish, "[My mother] thinks that [the monarchy] is modernizing in a way that it should, and she absolutely believes in the thinning down of the royal family and making it this core hardworking foursome."

The King is set to make the senior ranks of the Crown revolve solely around himself, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales. Despite Zara's mother, Princess Anne, and Prince Edward along with Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh being senior, working royals, there is a "growing public interest in having Mike and Zara on the front lines."

"People adore them," a royal insider shared. "They both have this earthy, everyman, everywoman appeal that the British public cannot get enough of. They would make a perfect replacement for Harry and Meghan."

The pair were praised for their "realness" as junior royals and their unpretentious way of not "hiding anything" about themselves and their lives.

"That realness is also with William and Kate," former butler to Diana, Princess of Wales, Paul Burrell, dished on behalf of Slingo. "I don't think there's anything they're hiding. I don't think there's anything false about them."

"I think what you see is what you get, whereas Harry and Meghan, you just don't know what to believe," he added. "That's the difference between the two camps."

Burrell continued: "Mike Tindall has done incredibly well to step over that line into a royal world and yet keep one foot in the real world. He must have a very balanced mind to cope with both entities, because as we know, those incoming into the family have suffered in the past, and they've not always done well."

Mike and Zara married in 2011 and would go on to have three children together, daughters Mia and Lena, and son Lucas. Zara and her three children are 21st-24th in line to the British throne, even though none of them are recognized as official British royals and do not represent the Crown in any capacity.

Zara is the second grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth II as the second child of Anne, Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips. The hardworking only daughter of the late Queen turned down her mother's offer to make Zara and her older brother, Peter, a Lady and peer of the realm, respectively.

GBN reported on Hicks' comments.