Zara Tindall's royal promotion could "prove problematic" for King Charles, a royal source has claimed.
Princess Anne's daughter, who is very close with her uncle, was recently spotted embracing the monarch at the Windsor Horse Show.
Photographs from the event showed Zara, 43, greeting the King, 75, with a warm smile and a loving hug.
Zara was not given a royal title at birth, a decision made by her mother the Princess Royal, in the same way she did with her son Peter Phillips.
Princess Anne wanted her two children to avoid the pressures that come with having a royal title.
In a 2020 interview with Vanity Fair, Anne noted that refusing to give her children titles "was probably the right thing to do".
She added: “I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles.”
Zara's recent outings at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and the Buckingham Palace garden party have sparked suggestions that the mother-of-three could take on an official role within the Firm.
A royal source told New Idea: "There's talk that niece Zara Tindall, 43, who is very close to her uncle (as witnessed by their loving moment at the Windsor Horse show recently) might become more involved in this side of things, and that Charles is keen to support such an interest by bestowing on her the title of princess."
The source goes on to suggest King Charles believes Zara should have been given the title "all along".
They added: "So while Anne has always been a steadfast supporter of her older brother, this is likely to cause some friction between the two.
"In trying to make life a little easier, could such a move in fact prove problematic for Charles?"
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Zara, who married the former rugby champion Mike Tindall in 2011, previously said she was "lucky" to not have a royal title.
She said on an episode of Rob Burrow’s Total Sport podcast: “From my point of view, I was obviously very lucky that my mother didn't give us any titles, so I really commend her on that.”
Zara continued: “We were very lucky that we got to do it a bit our own way.
“My family has a great work ethic as well, which I’m hoping they instilled in me, and is still going to this day.”
