ROYAL BABY TRAGEDY: Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall lose second child
ZARA Phillips has lost her baby less than a month after the Queen's granddaughter and husband Mike Tindall announced their happiness at being pregnant with their second child.
Zara and Mike were thrilled with the news they were expecting a second child
The couple's spokeswoman revealed the devastating news just a day before Christmas Day.
She said: "Very sadly, Zara and Mike Tindall have lost their baby.
"At this difficult time, we ask that everyone respects their privacy."
Zara and Mike Tindall spend time with daughter Mia
Very sadly, Zara and Mike Tindall have lost their baby
On November 30, the Olympic equestrian champion and her husband, ex-England rugby player Mr Tindall announced they were expecting another baby.
The couple had said they were "thrilled" with the news and revealed the baby was due around late spring.
Zara looked very happy as the first signs of a baby bump showed on December 16 at Ascot
The baby would have been a sibling for daughter, Mia, who is nearly three-years-old.
Zara had not revealed if she knew the sex of the baby who would have been the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's sixth great-grandchild.
Their spokeswoman would not give any details about the circumstances surrounding the loss of the couple's baby but it is understood Zara is not in any medical danger.
Zara and Mike married in 2011 and had Mia in January 2014
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the private matter.
Zara, whose mother is the Queen's only daughter Princess Anne and father is Captain Mark Phillips, married Mike Tindall in 2011 and they had Mia in January 2014 at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
The 35-year-old's latest edition would have been 18th in line to the throne.
Zara and Mike are hands-on parents to their two-year-old Mia
Earlier this year, Mia was pictured holding the Queen's famous black handbag when the monarch posed for an Annie Leibovitz photograph with her great-grandchildren to mark her 90th birthday.
The family live on the Princess Royal's Gatcombe Park country estate in Gloucestershire after meeting during England's Rugy World Cup-winning campaign in Australia in 2003.
Buckingham Palace said at the end of November the Queen, Prince Philip and the Royal Family were “delighted” by Zara's pregnancy.
Zara has followed in the footsteps of both her parents with her love of horses and won silver in the London 2012 Olympics during the team event, where their medals were presented by her mother.