King Charles and Queen Camilla embarked on their annual visit to the Chelsea Flower Show Monday, where the monarch greeted Sir David Beckham, admired a new rose named in the footballer's honour, and even nuzzled a dog in training to detect plant diseases.
Crowds gathered as the royal couple explored the world-renowned horticultural event at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London.
A key stop was the King’s Foundation Curious Garden, an exhibit designed to inspire public interest in gardening. This particular project saw the King collaborate with Sir David Beckham and TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh.
The trio convened inside a whimsical wooden hut, adorned with gnomes, artwork, and an eclectic mix of items including dangling plants, balls of yarn, jars of honey, and even vodka. The King paused to appreciate an arrangement of roses, which included a variety bearing his own name, another for Mr Titchmarsh, and a newly launched English shrub rose dedicated to Sir David.
Sir David, sporting the white bloom in his buttonhole, celebrated its debut at the show. The rose was a special commission from his daughter Harper, marking his recent 50th birthday.
Charles greeted Sir David at one point, who could be seen saying: “Thank you sir”.
And Camilla could be heard complementing the garden with Titchmarsh, saying “This is so nice” before adding: “It looks natural, doesn’t it?”
Later, Charles could be seen greeting Dame Judi Dench with a kiss on both cheeks, as she said: “It’s wonderful to see you”.
They spoke outside the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s garden, which champions “edgelands” on urban fringes that connect people with nature and features a huge piece of art, a Gaia – Mother Nature – figure, lying across the garden, carved from a fallen Sequoia tree.
The King described the artwork as “extraordinary” while Dame Judi agreed that it was “just beautiful” before telling him it is possible to go inside the Gaia’s head.
“Apparently it’s hollow inside,” she said, before they spoke about theatre, including a production of The Tempest in Stratford-upon-Avon starring Sir Kenneth Branagh.
The King asked Dame Judi if she had seen it, and she replied: “No, I haven’t been.” She then talked about how she has turned Prospero’s humorous line “How now, moody?” into a cushion.
Charles playfully greeted a cocker spaniel called Zinc at the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s “scents and sensors” exhibit, which explores how detection dogs and technologies can help to combat plant pests and diseases.
With trainer Luke Jones, Zinc demonstrated how quickly he could locate a toy he had been trained to smell to demonstrate his advanced sense of smell for identifying diseases.
“Fantastic,” Charles could be heard saying.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal and The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester separately toured the show on Monday evening.
This year’s event features show gardens containing such items as a Barbara Hepworth sculpture to Japanese bonsai trees.
Earlier in the day, Titchmarsh, Queen guitarist Sir Brian May, comedian Bill Bailey and presenter Dame Floella Benjamin were among those who were showing off the gnomes they painted as part of a charity auction.
It marks only the second time RHS has lifted its gnome ban in the show’s 133-year history.
Horticulturalist Frances Tophill, who designed the King’s Foundation Curious Garden with the support of the King, Sir David and Titchmarsh, said it demonstrates “human beings in collaboration”, adding that “everyone’s ideas were very aligned”.
Asked what it was like working with the King, Titchmarsh said: “Delightful”.
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