Queen's granddaughter Zara Tindall gives birth to third child on bathroom floor

Watch: Zara’s royal baby boy Lucas born at home on the bathroom floor

The Queen's granddaughter Zara Tindall has given birth to her third child.

Zara, who is married to former England rugby star Mike Tindall, has welcomed their third child, a son, named Lucas Philip Tindall.

Lucas was born on 21 March weighing 8lbs 4oz, a spokesman for the couple confirmed.

Philip is likely to be a nod to the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, who is Zara's grandfather. It's also Mike Tindall's father's name.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are delighted with the news and look forward to meeting their 10th great-grandchild when circumstances allow.”

After the announcement, Tindall shared a clip from his podcast, The Good, the Bad and the Rugby, on Twitter, in which he told his co-hosts that after enjoying the rugby on Saturday, Sunday was "even better because a little baby boy arrived at my house".

He said the baby arrived at 6pm on Sunday evening, and the couple had not chosen a name by the time of the recording.

He said: "Arrived very quickly, didn't make it to hospital. On the bathroom floor.

"Fortunately, Zara's friend's Dolly, she is more important than I am, she's been at every one of my children's births. She was there and recognised that we wouldn't have got to hospital in time.

"So it was run into the gym, get a mat, get into the bathroom, get the mat on the floor, brace, brace, brace."

He said their midwife was able to travel to their home instead of the hospital, and arrived in time.

Tindall added: "Z had contractions through the night, she hadn't slept well the night before, so we had someone take the kids for the day."

Speaking of how Zara is, he said "she's a warrior", and added: "She was back up, we went for a walk this morning."

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Tindall said being at home meant he was able to do "skin on skin" straight away, taking his son into their TV room to watch rugby and golf within hours.

The Tindalls, who married in 2011, have two daughters, Mia Grace and Lena Elizabeth.

Tindall said Mia had "worked out" what might have happened when she did not go home for tea on Sunday, but added the "problem is Lena is like 'my baby' and tries to pick it up".

He said both of them were "over the moon" about their baby brother.

The family live in a house on the Gatcombe Park Estate in Gloucestershire.

The estate is owned by Princess Anne, Zara's mother. Lucas is Anne's first grandson, as her son Peter also has two daughters.

The safe arrival of their third child is particularly good news for the family as Zara has suffered two miscarriages in the past.

She suffered her first just before Christmas 2016 when she was four months pregnant, and another before her second daughter Lena was born in 2018.

Zara does not have a royal title as her mother, Princess Anne, declined the offer for both her children at their birth.

It means her children subsequently do not have royal titles, but they remain in the line of succession.

However the Tindalls have all been knocked down a place since the beginning of the year, with the arrival of Princess Eugenie's son.

August Philip Hawke Brooksbank was born 9 February and takes his names from his great grandfather and both of his great x5 grandfathers.

The two royal babies mean the Queen now has 10 great-grandchildren. Harry and Meghan are also expecting a second child, a girl, due in the summer, which will take the Queen to 11 great-grandchildren.

Before the birth, Tindall admitted he would like a boy, saying: "I’d like a boy this time, I’ve got two girls, I would like a boy.

“I’ll love it whether a boy or a girl – but please be a boy.”

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He also joked about naming the child after the coronavirus, and praised his wife for how she coped with pregnancy in a pandemic.

He added: “Z is very good, always careful because of things that have happened in the past, and really looking forward to it.”

As the family are not working royals they are not bound to the same formalities around the announcement of pregnancies.

Tindall announced his wife was expecting their third on his podcast, The Good, the Bad, the Rugby.

In 2014, he announced his first daughter's name in a tweet.

Watch: Harry and Meghan to have a baby girl