What To Know About Zara Tindall's Elusive Half-Sister Felicity
If you thought the British royal family tree was confusing, wait until you find out about Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips' half-sister. No, not Stephanie Phillips — the daughter of Peter and Zara's father Mark Phillips and his second wife, Sandy Pflueger. The royal siblings are in contact with Stephanie, but they have another half-sister named Felicity Tonkin whom they have reportedly never met. Felicity was born while Zara and Peter's parents Mark and Anne, the Princess Royal, were still married. The reveal that Mark had a secret daughter following an affair with New Zealand native and art teacher Heather Tonkin was a big scandal at the time — and still is quite shocking nowadays, primarily due to Mark refusing to have any sort of relationship or even contact with Felicity.
It all started when Mark met Heather in Auckland at a horse riding event. They reportedly had an encounter the following year, which resulted in Heather falling pregnant. Although Mark supposedly recommended she have an abortion, Heather refused to do so, and she had Felicity in 1985. The drama surrounding Mark's royal love child culminated a few years later. Felicity is widely believed to have caused the end of Mark's marriage to Anne. In 1989, the couple separated but Anne officially decided to divorce him (and boot him out of her Gatcombe estate) after the news of Mark's secret child went public in 1991, which occurred because Heather wanted Mark to acknowledge Felicity was his daughter and help take care of her financially.
Heather took action to prove Felicity's parentage
Mark Phillips reportedly sent money to Heather Tonkin for about five years, listing them as "equestrian consultancy" payments according to the Daily Mail. Once they petered out, however, Heather took action. She explained why she was going public with the circumstances of Felicity Tonkin's birth and why she wanted Mark to make his fatherhood of her official. "I am doing what I am doing for my child. I hope and pray Mark will do the right thing and make a proper and legally binding settlement on her," Heather said (via New Idea), with financial concerns obviously a major factor.
Using Felicity's childhood nickname, Heather added, "Nothing can compensate for the tears I have cried while trying to plan for Bunny's future, when at any moment I could find myself penniless." Although Mark didn't want his name on Felicity's birth certificate and Heather was threatened by Mark's business agent not to speak up, a DNA test proved that Heather wasn't lying about Felicity's parentage.
It's believed Heather received a £350,000 settlement from Mark. However, Felicity never had any sort of relationship with him or her half-siblings. When Felicity was young, Heather told her that her father had died (a suggestion from Mark's people). Felicity only learned the truth at eight years old while working on a family ancestry project. Heather also gave Felicity a biography about Mark's life to fill in the blanks.
There is a similarity between Zara and Felicity
It was reportedly difficult for Felicity Tonkin growing up knowing who her father was without having any kind of interaction with him. According to an ex-boyfriend named Jason Fowell, "She'd have liked a card or something, some sort of recognition. She wished she had a father to go to school interviews, that sort of thing." He added, "I saw her cry about it" (via New Idea). In a 2011 interview with the Daily Mail, Felicity's grandmother, Dr. Shirley Tonkin, also pointed out, "Zara [Tindall] has never been in touch with her — nobody has." Elsewhere, she shared that Felicity liked riding horses, which is one of Zara's favorite hobbies as well.
For a while, Felicity also supposedly kept up with the news of what her half-sister was up to, but Shirley didn't think she and Heather would watch Zara's wedding. Felicity reportedly once told a friend, "I've thought about telling my side of the story. But I'm not sure there's much point. I don't want to create bother for them and I like my life quiet. I just like getting on with it."
Felicity graduated from Massey University and is a specialist veterinarian, and she currently lives in New Zealand with her family: Her husband since 2015, polo player Tristan Wade, and their son James, who was born two years later. A photo of the happy family was shared by the Daily Mail in 2023, but they seem to mostly keep to themselves otherwise, just as Felicity apparently stated.