Zara and Mike Tindall’s youngest daughter, Lena Elizabeth, is celebrating her fifth birthday today.
On June 18, 2018, Zara gave birth to Lena Elizabeth — a nod to the late Queen although the couple said they liked the name anyway — at Stroud Maternity Unit, Gloucestershire.
Lena weighed a healthy 9lbs3oz, making her a record-breaking baby at the time as she was the heaviest royal baby in recent history, taking her cousin Savannah Phillips’s top spot.
Zara told the Telegraph in 2018 that she had wanted to call her second daughter Elena, but did not want her initials to be the name of a famous alien.
She said: “I liked the name Elena but I didn’t want her initials to be ‘E.T.’ so she’s Lena.”
Lena, who is 23rd in line to the throne, does not hold a formal royal rank, and neither do her parents or older sister.
In March 2019, she was christened at St Nicholas Church in Cherington, Gloucestershire, which was attended by the Duke of Sussex, who is reportedly her godfather although this has not been confirmed.
During the Platinum Jubilee last year, Lena was seen officially for the first time in the royal box alongside her sister and her cousins.
Mike, speaking on his podcast the Good, The Bad & The Rugby last year, said he was trying to keep the kids quiet.
He said: “Yeah, Louis… he was just wanting to have fun. And my two [daughters] are always mischievous, so it was trying to keep a lid on. There were a lot of sweets out back though, so there was a complete sugar high.”
Later that summer, Lena was seen having fun at the Festival of British Evening, held on her grandmother’s country estate, Gatcombe Park.
Although she was deemed too young to attend her great-grandmother’s funeral and committal service, she was taken to Westminster Hall with many of the other royals to pay tribute to the Queen as she lay in state.
She has often been seen at formal services such as the Christmas church service and earlier this year, she was seen attending the Easter Mattins Service at Windsor Castle along with several members of the Royal Family.
In May, Mike revealed that his second daughter is following in his footsteps during an appearance on the One Show.
The former England Rugby player said she had joined a local team for those under six — although he does struggle to get both Lena and her older sister Mia, who also plays, out the door during the chillier month.
He said: “Lena’s just joined because she’s just four, she’s doing under-sixes. It’s always hard through winter when it’s cold to get them out the door.
“They love it when they get there but every rugby parent will know that battle. I’ve found with the girls, that battle to still go and get muddy is still a battle. Once they are there, they’re okay.”
