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Queen’s granddaughter set to marry rugby player

Royal Zara Phillips is engaged to a rugby player for the English national team

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Video: Palace announces second royal engagement

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    >>> back now at 7:50 with word of another royal wedding . prince william 's cousin is engaged. stephanie gosk is at buckingham palace with the details. stephanie, good morning.

    >> reporter: good morning, savannah. well, perhaps it's the power or suggestion, or maybe there's something in the water at the palace. but we have another royal wedding , they have yet to announce their wedding day, so we can be reasonably sure of one thing, it's not going to be april 29 . dara phillips is one of the queen's eight grandchildren, daughter to princess ann and 12th in line for the thrown. the timing of her engagement to rugby player mike tindle on the heels of that other big announcement comes as a bit of a surprise.

    >> we have waited for a royal wedding for such a long time, for two to come at once, it is a bit of a shock.

    >> reporter: the couple's engagement photos were significantly less formal than water vapor imagery and ka -- william. edgier and less conservative than the other bride-to-be. and gently criticized at times for less than royal behavior. the 29-year-old is the only grandchild with a pierced tongue. zahra started riding horses when she was 4 and is now an accomplished equestrian winning a gold medal . she and her younger brother peter were not given the title of prince and princess.

    >> the queen thought they would live a more ordinary life .

    >> reporter: zahra has had to support herself without the help of royal money. zahra 's brother peter married his wife autumn, a canadian in 2008 . famously it was when kate middleton met the queen for the first time. the wedding caused them scandal when the couple sold pictures of the event to a tabloid. the palace was not pleased. hello magazine is unlikely to get their hands of the photographs of this wedding. peter and zahra will be with their grandmother for christmas. .

    Show transcript

Barry Batchelor  /  AP
Zara Phillips and boyfriend Mike Tindall kiss at the Badminton Horse Trials, Badminton, England. Phillips, who is 12th in line to the throne, had accepted a proposal from rugby player Tindall.
updated 12/21/2010 8:53:43 AM ET 2010-12-21T13:53:43

Prince William and Kate Middleton will soon have company on the royal wedding calendar. Buckingham Palace announced Tuesday that Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II's eldest granddaughter, is engaged.

Phillips, an accomplished equestrian, will marry longtime boyfriend Mike Tindall, the palace said.

No date has been set yet. Phillips is close friends with her cousin, Prince William, who plans to marry Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29. Their engagement was announced last month.

Phillips, 29, is 12th in line to the throne.

Tindall, 32, has played rugby for the English national team and was a member of the squad that won the 2003 World Cup. He now plays for the Gloucester club.

"The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are delighted with the news," the palace said in a statement. "They got engaged yesterday evening at the couple's home in Gloucestershire."

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Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne, has won medals in world equestrian championships and was once voted BBC sports personality of the year — as was her mother, who shares her loves of horses.

The marriage between Princess Anne and Phillips' father, Mark Phillips, ended in divorce in 1992. Princess Anne has since remarried.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Timeline: A history of British royal weddings

Take a look back at the gorgeous and famous British royal weddings in the last 80 years.

Photos: A royal couple's long courtship

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  1. William and Kate

    On April 29, 2011, Prince William and Kate Middleton were married, eight years after they first met at university. The prince popped the question five months earlier to his longtime girlfriend during a vacation to Kenya. Take a look at their top moments.

    Official wedding photo The online version of the royal wedding's official program includes a never-before-seen portrait of the couple, shot by Mario Testino. Testino also shot their official engagement pics. (Mario Testino / Art Partner) Back to slideshow navigation
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  2. A pre-wedding outing

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  3. Royal couple mania!

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  4. Weather or not

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  5. A perfect flip

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    Wedding blooms

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  7. Remembering Christchurch

    Prince William looks on as his fiancée Kate Middleton signs the book of condolence in memory of those who lost their lives in the Christchurch earthquake at the New Zealand High Commission in London. (David Parker / WPA Pool via Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
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  8. Romantic homecoming

    Prince William and Kate Middleton returned to the university where they met and fell in love on Feb. 25 with an official visit to St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. (Danny Lawson / WPA Pool via Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
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  9. Pouring some bubbly

    Prince William and his blushing bride-to-be Kate Middleton performed a bit of royal duty, making a rare public appearance in Anglesey, Wales to christen Trearddur Bay Lifeboat Station’s brand new lifeboat, the "Hereford Endeavour" on Feb. 24, 2011. (Phil Noble / Reuters) Back to slideshow navigation
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  10. Official engagement portraits

    The couple pose in their official engagement portraits, taken by photographer Mario Testino in the Cornwall Room at St James's Palace in London on Nov. 25, 2010. (Mario Testino / Reuters) Back to slideshow navigation

  11. Engaged at last

    William and Kate pose for the media at St. James's Palace in London on Nov. 16, after they announced their engagement. The couple are to wed April 29, 2011. (Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP) Back to slideshow navigation
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  12. Diana's ring

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  13. Royal couple

    Months of speculation about William and Kate's engagement grew more intense when the couple attended Harry Meade and Rosie Bradford's wedding at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul on Oct. 23, 2010, in Northleach near Cheltenham, England. (Indigo via Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
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  14. Chic chapeau

    In an eye-catching hat, Kate Middleton attends the wedding of Nicholas van Cutsem and Alice at The Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks on Aug. 14, 2009, in London. Middleton had been named to Vanity Fair's international best-dressed list in July 2008. (Indigo via Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
    Image:
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  15. Wedding guests

    Prince William and Kate Middleton attend the wedding of friend Chiara Hunt in Salzburg, Austria, on Sept. 6, 2008. Two years and two months later, it was announced that the prince and his longtime girlfriend had finally become engaged. (Ikon Pictures via Rex USA) Back to slideshow navigation
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  16. A jolly good time

    Prince Harry, Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall laugh together as they watch the Order of the Garter procession at Windsor Castle on June 16, 2008. (Tim Graham / Pool via Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
    Harry Playroom Kensington Palace
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  17. Together again

    Prince William and Kate Middleton at a Royal Air Force graduation ceremony held at RAF Cranwell, England on April 11, 2008. Middleton's accompanying the prince as he was awarded his RAF wings was a clear indication that the couple had reconciled after a widely reported split a year earlier. (Michael Dunlea / EPA) Back to slideshow navigation
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  18. A day at the races

    Kate Middleton attends a horse race at the Cheltenham Festival in Gloucestershire, western England, in this March 16, 2007, photograph. (Eddie Keogh / Reuters) Back to slideshow navigation
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  19. On the slopes

    Prince William and Kate Middleton were spotted skiing in Klosters, Switzerland, on March 19, 2008, one of a number of public appearances together that showed that they had reconciled after a reported April 2007 breakup. (Rex USA) Back to slideshow navigation
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  20. They're off!

    Prince William and Kate Middleton on the first day of the Cheltenham Race Festival in Gloucestershire, on March 13, 2007. One month later, the media reported that Middleton and the prince had broken up. (Stephen Lock / Rex USA) Back to slideshow navigation

  21. Separate seats

    Prince Harry (front left) and Prince William (on Harry's left) are clearly enjoying a performance at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London on July 1, 2007. So is Kate Middleton (upper right corner). At the time, rumor had it that William and Kate had reconciled after their split in April 2007, but they sat separately, insisting that they were "just good friends." (Leon Neal / AFP - Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation

  22. Sports fans

    Prince William and Kate Middleton attend a rugby match in London in this Feb. 10, 2007, photo. (Richard Heathcote / Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation

  23. Paparazzi prey

    Photographers snap pictures of Kate Middleton as she leaves her Chelsea home on Jan. 9, 2007, her 25th birthday. The growing media attention that she attracted at this time prompted warnings to the press from Prince Charles, Prince William and Middleton's lawyers. As a result, two newspaper groups decided to cease publishing paparazzi photos of Middleton. (Solo via ZUMA Press) Back to slideshow navigation

  24. Lady in red

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  25. Guest of honor

    Kate Middleton is seen at the wedding of Laura Parker Bowles and Harry Lopes at St Cyriac's Church, Lacock on May 6, 2006, in Wiltshire, England. (Tim Graham / Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
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  26. Model behavior

    Kate Middleton models on the catwalk at a student fashion show attended by Prince William on March 26, 2002, in St. Andrews, Scotland. The prince reportedly paid 200 pounds to sit in the first row and watch Middleton model a sheer dress over a black bandeau and bikini bottoms. (M Neilson / Getty Images) Back to slideshow navigation
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  27. Heads on a platter

    In November 2006, British retailer Woolworths showed a china plate representing Prince William and Kate Middleton as a commemorative gift for their wedding. Four years later the prediction finally came true when the royal family announced that the couple were engaged. (Woolworths via EPA) Back to slideshow navigation
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