The Sunday Express has apologised to former England rugby captain Mike Tindall after alleging a “blip” in his relationship with wife Zara Phillips, the Queen’s granddaughter.

Press Gazette revealed in January that Tindall was seeking £50,000 in privacy damages from the paper over the February 2013 story, which was headlined: “Zara and Mike in marriage blip”.

Tindall sought damages for “publication of false, private information” published in the story, which featured coverage of his night out with the England rugby team in New Zealand when he was seen on CCTV with another woman.