Mike Tindall has joked that he knew Prince Harry “when he was fun” in a flippant comment about his wedding to the Duke’s cousin, Zara. Chatting with his pals and podcast co-hosts James Haskell and Alex Payne, the former rugby player expressed mock surprise that his former teammate Haskell had not made a fool of himself at the wedding.

“A lot of other people managed that way better than you – [like] Harry, when he was fun,” he joked. The Duke of Sussex is godfather to Tindall’s second daughter, Lena.

Mike made the comment at the Hay Festival in Powys, where he and his co-hosts made numerous gags about his royal ties.

Payne mentioned that the former England player had strong connections because “he’s got his own bedroom at Buckingham Palace”. Replying, Tindall joked: “Opposite end to Andrew, though.”

Though he added that he had been asked to stay clear of any mention of the former prince, saying: “Backstage, they were like, ‘It’s being recorded, maybe stay away from [the subject of] Andrew tonight?’”

In another quip about the Royal Family, the former rugby player said taxpayers’ money had funded his corrective rhinoplasty surgery for his broken nose in 2018. “It’s got the royal warrant if you look inside it,” he said.

Payne said Mike’s royal connections could help bring attention to Richmond Rugby Club, where they have filmed a pilot for a TV series.

He added: “We’ve got some amazing ideas – Amazon Prime are interested – if we can get it going. The Rolling Stones used to practise when they were 16 years old in the Richmond club house, and one of my ambitions is to get Mick Jagger back, because he lives in Richmond, to do a big gig at Richmond Athletic Ground, raise money and get the club back on the map.

“Tin[dall]’s obviously got good connections… we could have Catherine meeting the team, the Princess of Wales. These are all massive pipe dreams.”