Mike Tindall Says His Father’s ‘Horrible’ Last Months Have Made Him a Proponent of Assisted Dying

Phil Tindall was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2003 and died this month

NEED TO KNOW

• Mike Tindall said the death of his father, Phil, came as something of a “relief” as he suffered “horrible” health complications in his final months
• Phil was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2003; Mike said he suffered from dietary and bowel issues and wasn’t able to move at the end of his life
• Mike noted that watching his father’s “horrible” final months has made him a proponent of assisted dying

Mike Tindall is opening up about the difficult months leading up to the death of his father, Phil Tindall.

Mike — the former England rugby star who is married to Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall — shared news of his father’s death at age 80 on the Sept. 23 episode of his podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby.

Phil Tindall, whose own rugby career was cut short by injury in the 1970s, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2003, and his son said his condition had deteriorated in his final months.

“He’d been awake, I think, properly once in the last three weeks. It’s been a bad three months for him, and it was horrible to see,” Mike shared on this week’s episode of his podcast, going on to describe his father’s death as a “godsend.”

Mike said his family had been preparing for Phil’s death since around June of this year.

“They phoned us three times to say, ‘You need to get up here because this could be the last day,’ ” he recalled. “And yet every time I got up there he’d be sat up in the chair… Tough old northern bugger.”

Parkinson’s left Phil with a curvature to his spine and, despite surgery, he had been unable to properly straighten his body — a condition that Mike previously recalled became noticeable around the time of his 2011 wedding to Zara.

He also had two surgeries to correct bowel blockages caused by the disease and, according to Mike, “almost died on the operating table.”

Toward the end of his life, Phil was left without the ability to properly speak or move his arms.

“He clearly had something to say and he couldn’t,” Mike recounted. “He’d lost all movement by then. So it’s a relief that he’s free from his body now, I think.”

“It’s so easy to be selfish and go, ‘I didn’t really want him to go,’ but I think he lived a great life. He didn’t owe us anything,” he added. “It’s quite nice to remember the better times when he was far more mobile. They’re the ones that you remember.”

Mike also shared that watching his father deteriorate in his final months has made him a strong proponent of assisted dying.

The House of Commons, the lower chamber of U.K. Parliament, voted against a bill earlier this month that would have allowed mentally competent, terminally ill adults in England and Wales with six months or fewer to live to ​end their lives with medical assistance, following approval from a panel of professionals.

“Anyone who voted against the euthanasia thing hasn’t gone through seeing your dad, who you admire so much, go through what he had to go through. It’s just not fair,” Mike said.

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Mike has also taken on Parkinson’s as a personal cause. He’s worked to raise money for Parkinson’s research through Cure Parkinson’s, serving as a patron for the organization and taking part in cycling events and other fundraisers.

Phil is survived by his wife, Linda; Mike, Zara and their three children, Mia, 12, Lena, 8, and Lucas, 5; as well as Mike’s older brother, Ian.

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