'It's a relief that he's free from his body now': Mike Tindall opens up about harrowing final weeks of his father's life after his death aged 80 following 25-year battle with Parkinson's

Mike Tindall has opened up on his father's harrowing final weeks after he died following a 25-year battle with Parkinson's disease.

The former England rugby star, 47, said it was 'a relief' that his father was now 'free of his body', and said the experience had left him in favour of assisted dying. 

After last week announcing the death of his father Phil at the age of 80, Mr Tindall, who is married to Princess Anne's daughter Zara Tindall, revealed the past three months had been incredibly challenging.

'He'd been awake, I think, properly once in the last three weeks. It's been a bad three months for him and it was horrible to see,' he told podcast The Good, The Bad & The Rugby.

Mr Tindall went as far as to describe his father's death as a 'godsend'.

He said Parkinson's had caused a curvature of Phil's spine and left him unable to properly straighten his body.

'He had a big operation on his back and if anyone saw my dad, he was sort of bent over,' Mr Tindall explained. 'He couldn't straighten, he couldn't hook his head up.'

He added: 'Then it also comes with dietary problems, so bowel problems. He already had a bowel blockage eight years ago which he had to have surgery on, and he [almost] died on the operating table.

Mike Tindall has opened up about the suffering his father endured in the final weeks of his life

Phil Tindall, right, with Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips, waving off Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall after their wedding in 2011

Mr Tindall and his wife Zara, daughter of Princess Anne, at Cheltenham in March this year

'Then he chose to sign a non-resuscitation thing. So when he went in again in June with another bowel blockage, it was dire from the start.

'But then somehow he managed to sort of get through that.

'They phoned us three times to say, "You need to get up here because this could be the last day."

'And yet every time I got up there he'd be sat up in the chair... Tough old northern bugger.'

Phil later became unable to properly speak or move his arms. 'He clearly had something to say and he couldn't,' Mr Tindall said.

'He'd lost all movement by then. So it's a relief that he's free from his body now, I think.'

Mr Tindall also revealed a heartbreaking conversation with his dad around two weeks before his death.

Phil told him: 'I'm gonna die tomorrow.' Mr Tindall replied: 'Dad, we've got Mum. You've done everything you can. You've been a great dad. You've been amazing.

'If you feel that's what you need to do, we're fine with it.'

But Phil battled on for another fortnight. Mr Tindall said: 'It's so easy to be selfish and go, "I didn't really want him to go," but I think he lived a great life. He didn't owe us anything.' 

Mr Tindall also revealed that having to watch his father struggle in pain had left him in no doubt that assisted dying should be offered to the terminally ill. 

He hit out at MPs who voted against the bill earlier this month, which created a serious obstacle to it becoming law any time soon.

Mr Tindall said: 'Anyone who voted against the euthanasia thing hasn't gone through seeing your dad, who you admire so much, go through what he had to go through. It's just not fair.'

He also revealed the father of one of his close friends has motor neurone disease and is planning an assisted death.

'No one wants to see that,' he said. 'So I don't know, it's a tough one.'

Mr Tindall's comments come after MPs rejected the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at its second reading earlier this month by 286 votes to 270.

The proposed law would have allowed eligible terminally ill adults in England and Wales who were expected to die within six months to seek help to end their lives.   

Mr Tindall said his father's death had now allowed happier memories to come flooding back.

He added: 'It's quite nice to remember the better times when he was far more mobile. They're the ones that you remember.'