Queen held private Christmas service for Zara and Mike Tindall after couple's miscarriage

Zara and Mike Tindall married in 2011 and have two children together

The Queen held a private Christmas church service for Zara and Mike Tindall after the couple suffered a miscarriage.

In November 2016, Mrs Tindall revealed she’d experienced a miscarriage shortly after announcing she was pregnant.

A month later, the royal couple were faced with the prospect of having to join the rest of their family for their annual festive celebrations.

Every year, the royal family travel to the Queen’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk to celebrate Christmas together.

While their visit to Sandringham usually consists of a routine group visit to St Mary Magdalene Church, that year the monarch decided not to attend the church service as she wasn't feeling well.

“Two years ago she wasn’t feeling very well and so she didn’t go to church,” Mr Tindall said while appearing on news website Joe’s chat show House of Rugby.

“We’d obviously been through what we’d been through with our pregnancy that we lost, so we did our own little private [service] just as a three."

Mrs Tindall recently discussed coping in the aftermath of the miscarriage while being interviewed on BBC Breakfast.

The former Olympic equestrian explained that the most difficult aspect of the whole ordeal was knowing the nation was aware of her and her husband’s situation.

“I think that's the hardest thing in our situation, is that everyone knew,” she said.

“And very much when things like that happen, normally it’s just your family and friends, but unfortunately everyone knew about it."

She also spoke about the heartbreaking way in which the miscarriage affected her husband.

“It’s very different for us because we’re carrying the child, but for guys I guess it’s kind of that helpless feeling, which must be incredibly high and horrible for them," she said.

"At the end of the day they’ve still lost a child too.”

During his appearance on House of Rugby, Mr Tindall disclosed that contrary to his own better judgement, he chose to wear a garish Christmas suit for the private church service with his wife and the Queen on 2016.

“I was trying to raise the mood,” he said.

When asked by Alex Payne what the Queen thought of his eye-catching attire, he explained both he and the Queen have a fondness for colourful clothing.

“The Queen loves bright colours, that’s why she wears all those amazing colours that she does wear, because she thinks dark colours are for sad times,” he said.