Zara and Mike Tindall have been unveiled as ambassadors for ‘digital health passports’ and added a lucrative coronavirus-based deal to their incredible £1.1 million business portfolio.
The Queen’s granddaughter, 39, and her rugby ace husband, 41, are working with VST Enterprises, which has developed a ‘digital health passport’ which it hopes will help professional athletes with a negative Covid status to travel across the world during the pandemic.
The new deal is the latest in a long line of sponsorships and brand collaborations for Zara, who is able to use her unique position of being a part of the royal family but not having a title to maximum advantage and is estimated to have sponsorship deals worth £1.3 million each year.
FEMAIL spoke to publicity specialist Claire Shiels, who said the couple’s ‘untarnished reputations, general likability and superb sporting performances’ could have helped them nab the £200,000 role.
Meanwhile Neil Kent, branding and PR expert and Managing Director of Chapter Communications, said the couple may well have ‘lost revenue’ from cancelled appearances during the coronavirus crisis.
He said: ‘The Tindall’s find themselves in lockdown like the rest of the UK and have no doubt lost revenue from cancelled upcoming event appearances and media activities.’
Previous brand collaborations have included an estimated £100,000 deal with Rolex, while her deal with Land Rover is believed to be worth an incredible £200,000.
Zara, 39, and Mike Tindall, 41, have signed a deal to become ambassadors for a health passport firm working to help athletes get back to sport after the coronavirus crisis
Claire explained: ‘Mike and Zara Tindall are the perfect choice to be celebrity ambassadors for this technology.
‘Their untarnished reputations, general likability and superb sporting performances alongside the royal connection means they are a solid, trustworthy option.’
VST Enterprises could be the much needed solution to kickstart sporting events again following the immediate and potentially disastrous ban, caused by Covid-19.
‘Professional sportspeople, managers, event organisers and fans will be delighted to hear of plans to launch a new digital health passport which, it is hoped, will allow events to once again take place, albeit in a controlled, socially distanced and safe manner.’
Mike and Zara are working with VST Entreprises amid the coronavirus pandemic to promote digital health passports (pictured, with CEO and former rocker Louis-James Davis and his wife Nicole in November last year)
Zara Phillips during the world premiere of the all-new Land Rover Discovery in Birmingham in 2016. Her partnership with the brand is rumoured to be worth up to £200K a year
‘Whilst celebrity ambassadors can earn from £30,000 to millions depending on their celebrity status and the brand they’re representing, I’d expect the Tindalls to earn in the region of £200,000 for their part in promoting this new technology.’
Meanwhile Neil added: ‘This partnership with VSTE allows them to align themselves with a business at the cutting edge of tech innovation, working towards bringing sports back in a safe and responsible way.
‘It is a great opportunity for them to lend their voices – from the safety of their own home – to a project that, if successful, will be seen as a triumph for British sport.’
Mother-of-two Zara is also a brand ambassador for Rolex, Land Rover and Musto, and has her own jewellery range with Australian brand Cajella, and experts estimate they could be worth a combined £1.1M or more a year.
Zara, who has inherited her mother the Princess Royal’s rather imperious independence, has pressed ahead with any number of lucrative deals over the years and is seen by envious fellow royals as being well on the way to being wealthy in her own right.
The couple appear to have met with the CEO of the company on several occasions over the last year (pictured, MIke with Louis in October 2019)
The couple will represent a series of sports, including rugby, horse racing, equestrian, golf and luxury lifestyle brands
Mischa Joslin, Managing Director of Influencer, PR and Branding agency, Edencancan previously Femail: ”Zara Tindall provides a unique way for brands to tap into the Royal reputation without the restraints and restrictions that would apply to working with a member who is closer to the throne.’
It was reported in 2015 that Prince Andrew’s daughters, princesses Beatrice and Eugenie — who are Zara’s first cousins — have watched her commercial prominence and rising wealth knowing that, for them, this is forbidden territory.
‘They see Zara as the royal cousin with real privilege, not themselves,’ said a friend of Beatrice. They would probably not think this if they weren’t forced to live hybrid lives as Royal Highnesses who are seldom actually invited to do anything royal.’
Mike and Zara’s latest business venture: Digital Health Passports
WHO ARE VSTE ENTERPRISES?
The Manchester based cyber security company which was founded by tech ‘power couple’ Louis-James Davis and his wife Nicole in 2012.
Formerly a professional musician on an international stage, Louis-James retired from rock in 2009 after an illness took him away from mainstream performance.
The company was started by former professional musician Louis -James Davies and his wife Nicole
He turned his passion for technology into entrepreneurial momentum, and has developed a scannable code that’s making strides in the fight against counterfeit, fraud and money laundering.
The digital passport requires users to be tested for Covid-19 and their results uploaded to an app, which can then be scanned to authenticate a person’s status as positive or negative. It also includes a countdown timer to highlight when a user needs another test.
The digital health passport works in conjunction with a Government approved Covid-19 testing kit to authenticate a persons heath status after taking the test.
The technology, which is GDPR and data compliant, gives a traffic light system to confirm test positive (Red) test negative (Green) and a countdown timer to the next test (Amber).
CEO and founder of the company Louis-James Davis hopes the digital passport will be the key to unlocking sport amid the coronavirus pandemic
The brand are currently in talks with governing bodies to use the health passport to help resume sporting fixtures and events.
The Premier League is also among those considering using the technology ahead of the return of professional football in June.
Now, with sports only considering returning behind closed doors, developers of the app are focusing on trying to get sporting organisations on board so players and staff can stay safe.
Away from sport, VSTE have held talks with Government officials and inventor Louis-James Davis believes his technology is more secure than the NHS’s coronavirus contact-tracing app, which has been trialled in the Isle of Wight.
HOW WILL MIKE AND ZARA BE REPRESENTING THEM?
The royals will represent the firm in rugby, horse racing, equestrian, golf and luxury lifestyle brands, with Mike explaining: ‘I think everyone from across the sporting world would be delighted if this technology could help get sports teams back to their respective competition leagues and complete their seasons.’
Zara revealed: ‘I think the potential of this technology is really interesting and has so many uses across the horse racing and equestrian worlds from horse passports and bloodstock sales to tickets for the horse racing season.’
Meanwhile Mike explained: ‘The work that VSTE are doing with health passports to help get UK sports teams back into professional competition is a great idea. ‘
In September 2018, the equestrian was named brand ambassador for iCandy pushchairs, as it launched its £1,500 ‘all-terrain’ buggy in partnership with Land Rover.
She and baby Lena, along with the family Labrador, starred in a video capturing the juxtaposition of Zara’s world as a mother alongside her world as an athlete.
Zara became an official ambassador for the brand in 2006, strengthening the brand’s already impeccable royal connections.
The Queen is thought to have had no fewer than 30 Land Rovers, while they’re also driven by all of the Queen’s children and most of her grandchildren – as well as the Duchess of Cambridge’s family.
Zara, who inherited her mother Princess Anne’s imperious independence, has a series of brand deals including Land Rover and Musto
She became the first person to be given the keys to a Range Rover Evoque in 2011 and has presented a women’s scholarship, for training in engineering, sponsored by the firm. And every year they sponsor her equestrian competitions.
Richard Thompson estimated that Zara’s deal with the brand could be worth up to £200K, including free products.
The royal is also the first Magic Millions Racing Women Ambassador, having been announced as working with the brand in 2012.
Zara Tindall and her husband Mike at the Magic Millions Raceday in Gold Coast, Australia in January 2017. The Queen’s granddaughter receives an estimated £125K a year as brand ambassador
She now travels to Surfers Paradise in Queensland every year for the Gold Coast Yearling Sale, seven days of auctions which culminate in a major race meeting where all contenders are horses bought at previous Magic Millions auctions.
Zara has been a brand ambassador for Musto for almost a decade and has her own capsule collection with the brand.
The royal has also been a Rolex Testimonee, as the luxury watch brand calls its ambassadors, since 2006 and is regularly seen with its expensive timepieces on her wrist.