Zara and Mike Tindall are set to play a major role in Princess Kate's inner circle, sources have claimed.
The Princess of Wales shocked people around the world last week when she announced she had been diagnosed with cancer.
Kate, 42, said she was undergoing a course of preventative chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer.
Close friends of the Prince and Princess of Wales gave an insight into who the mother-of-three will turn to for support during her treatment.
Mike Tindall, Kate, and Zara Tindall pictured in 2022
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Zara Tindall, 42, and her husband Mike, 45, are very close friends with Kate and Prince William.
The two couples each have three children around a similar age, and Zara is even Prince George's godmother.
Mike has been known to pull silly faces to make the children laugh at official engagements, providing an air of normality to the Wales children's lives.
Sources close to William and Kate claim the Tindalls are set to play a major role in the Princess of Wales's inner circle as she receives cancer treatment.
Kate and Zara are known to have a very close relationship
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They said: “The Tindalls are very much the glue of their generation of royals and bring the fun to a family gathering, no matter how serious the occasion.
"They can help take the family’s mind off the gravity of what is going on.
“While some family members can be very ‘royal’, Mike is just himself and is relaxed and playful with George, Charlotte and Louis."
They also told The Times: "It helps that they all have children around the same age that they can fool around together privately and bring a sense of normality to what is a stressful situation for everyone involved.”
Kate smiling at Zara Tindall in 2019
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Kate Middleton and Zara Tindall have three children around a similar age
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On Christmas Day in 2023, Princess Charlotte, eight, and her cousin Mia Tindall, 10, walked beside each other on the Sandringham estate, giggling and smiling.
The eldest daughter of Zara and Mike was also snapped waving excitedly at Prince George and Princess Charlotte during the Thanksgiving Service for Prince Philip in 2022.
The Tindalls live on Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire, around an hour and a half drive away from Adelaide Cottage, the home of Prince William and Kate.