King Charles and Queen Camilla delighted royal fans yesterday with their traditional visit to the Chelsea Flower Show.
The stunning annual display of British gardening skills has long been a fixture on the royal calendar.
The king was appointed patron of the Royal Horticultural Society earlier this month – more than seventy years after his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, took on the role when she became monarch.
First established in 1913, the Chelsea Flower Show takes place in the grounds of the Royal Chelsea Hospital in Londonhas become one of the world’s largest showcases for horticultural excellence, attracting visitors from all over the world.
But visits from members of the royal family are almost as natural as the plants, as these photos show.
King Charles and Queen Camilla walk with Keith Weed (left), President of the Royal Horticultural Society at the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show
Queen Elizabeth visits the 1952 Chelsea Flower Show shortly after her accession to the throne
Kate Middleton with students at the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show
The Princess of Wales talks to schoolchildren at the very first children’s picnic at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2023
The Princess of Wales is deep in conversation with a young student at the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show
Queen Mary stops at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1920 to pet a friendly dog
Queen Mary points to an exhibition at the 1950 Chelsea Flower Show
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, talk to the architect of a miniature waterfall built in one of the Chelsea Flower Show exhibition gardens in 1950
A gardener puts the finishing touches to a large ER II emblem in a garden by William Wood & Son in May 1953 – just days before the coronation
Queen Elizabeth II enjoys the view as the Duke of Edinburgh talks to David Bowes-Lyon during a rock garden viewing in 1958
The Queen imagined herself eating a strawberry in 1977, the year of her successful Silver Jubilee
Queen Elizabeth II during a tour of the Chelsea Flower Show in May 1960
French florist Louisette Meilland presents Princess Margaret with a rose to smell in 1968. The flower was named after the queen’s sister
The Queen Mother attends the Chelsea Flower Show in 1956
The Queen Mother visits the Daily Express Garden during the Chelsea Flower Show in 1978
Diana, Princess of Wales, admires the plants during the Chelsea Flower Show in May 1984
Princess Michael of Kent appeared at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1993
The Queen smiles as she is shown an exhibition at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2004
Queen Elizabeth II dazzles in purple at the 2006 Chelsea Flower Show
The late Queen is shown around Catherine’s Back To Nature exhibition as Prince William looks on in 2019
Queen Elizabeth II presents her son Prince Charles, an avid gardener, with the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honor during a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2009
King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, smells a Highgrove rose at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2009
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, smells some of the flowers on display in 2006
Princess Beatrice received this rose during the 2011 show
King Charles and Queen Camilla enjoy the stepping stones in 2007
Queen Camilla attended the preview day for the annual Chelsea Flower Show in May 2006
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank walk hand in hand in May 2016
A floral display celebrates Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012
Kate Middleton was among the exhibitors in 2019. Here, experts visit her garden with Andree Davies and Adam White
The late Queen Elizabeth II and the current Prince and Princess of Wales in 2019
Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to the 2022 Chelsea Flower Show, which celebrated its Platinum Jubilee. This was the last Chelsea Flower Show she would attend before her death in September
Edward and Sophie will be given a tour of the Chelsea Flower Show in 2022
Prince Edward and Sophie visit the Chelsea Flower Show in September 2021. Due to the pandemic, it was postponed from its usual date in the spring
Lady Helen Taylor, daughter of the Duke of Kent, arrives at the show in 2007
King Charles and Queen Camilla speak to a couple married in the Eastern Eye Garde of Unity at the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show