Some nice rumours... 
It would be nice if they did get married next year, but they should both feel they're ready for this. Article from Sunday Mirror:
ZARA T0 WED
Dec 26 2004
She gets engaged in secret to England rugby star
By Euan Stretch, Chief Reporter
ROYAL pin-up Zara Phillips has secretly got engaged to her rugby star boyfriend, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.
Pretty blonde Zara, 11th in line to the throne, squealed "Yes" when England and Bath star Mike Tindall popped the question last month
Now the beautiful blonde royal has been dragging her 6ft 2inch fiance around jewellery shops in London and Bath in search of the perfect engagement ring.
Sports-mad Zara, 23, is insisting that they choose a traditional diamond ring before making an official announcement.
A friend of the England vice-captain said: "Mike proposed to Zara some weeks ago, though it has not yet been made official.
"He's been a lazy so-and-so and hasn't bought a ring for her yet.
"Zara's nagging him to get his act together and find one sharpish.
"And because she wants to help choose the ring, she's been dragging him around dozens of jewellery shops.
"Mike would be happy if he never saw the inside of another jewellery store again. He's sick of looking at them.
"But he acknowledges that he will have to pick one sooner or later - though it's not easy picking something suitable for the Queen's grand-daughter."
The England centre, currently suffering a foot injury, is also being mercilessly ribbed by his Bath team-mates over his royal ring dilemma.
His rugby pal added: "The squad find it hilarious that Mike's been given grief by Zara. They're joking that he's got plenty of time on his hands to look for a ring because he is off injured.
"The lucky devil is spending most of his time tucked up in bed with Zara. They can't keep their hands off each other."
Horsewoman Zara and Mike, 26, are expected to announce their engagement in the New Year.
Before that Mike will spend Boxing Day with Zara and the Royal Family on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
He has also been invited to celebrate the New Year with Zara and her family at Buckingham Palace.
Strongman Mike, weighs 16st 8lbs, has already met the Queen and Zara's parents, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips.
Earlier this year he and other members of the England World Cup winning rugby squad were presented with MBEs at Buckingham Palace.
He is likely to miss the opening match of the RBS Six Nations tournament in Cardiff against Wales on February 5 due to foot and a shoulder injuries.
Zara and Mike first met in Australia after England's victory in the rugby World Cup in November last year.
Her three-year romance with National Hunt jockey Richard Johnson, 27, was coming to an end.
They didn't start dating until the beginning of this year and were finally photographed frolicking together on a Caribbean holiday in August. Mike often spends evenings at Zara's £300,000 stone cottage in Minchinhampton, near Stroud, Glos - just a short drive from her mother's Gatcombe estate.
He lives with his Staffordshire bull terrier Misty in a third-floor flat in a pretty street in nearby Bath .
Former Exeter University student Zara - who narrowly missed being picked for the British Olympic eventing team this year - says she likes sporty men who make her laugh.
He ex-boyfriends include doctor's son Will Marien, who she met in 1999 in Sydney.
She then fell for another Australian - 6ft Angus Murray - head boy of Australia's oldest public school, King's. But in 2000 she started a three-year affair with jockey Richard Johnson.
Just before last Christmas their rocky on-off relationship finally ended.
Zara then had a brief relationship with New Zealand All Blacks rugby star Caleb Ralph, 26, who flew 12,000 miles to see in the New Year on the Gatcombe estate.
It was when she finished with Caleb that she started dating Mike.
As the untitled only daughter of the Princess Royal, Zara Phillips - who has an older brother, Peter, 27 - has never been far from controversy.
She first got a reputation as "royal rebel" when she wore a punk-style stud in her tongue (long since removed).
