Royal insiders have expressed concern that King Charles was being overshadowed by the Princess of Wales on his first visit to the Chelsea Flower Show as monarch.
His Majesty, who is known as an avid gardener and nature lover, attended the annual event in London on Monday 22 May for the first time since he became king.
While there, the monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla, presented a medal in memory of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth, to honor the leading figures of gardening – and will be presented to 70 people at any given time in memory of Her Majesty’s 70 Years of Reign.
However, some royal sources have expressed concern that Charles and Camilla’s visit was overshadowed by a surprise appearance by Catherine, Princess of Wales, at the same event on the same day.
Kate met young people from ten schools taking part in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Campaign for School Gardening, where she encouraged participants to ‘work hard’.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, will take part in the first children’s picnic at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on Monday
Kate’s surprise performance left showgoers elated, but some royal sources have questioned whether she overshadowed the king and queen
But the amount of attention given to the younger royal’s visit has sparked alarm in some quarters that Charles may be overshadowed by his daughter-in-law, a claim that reflects when he was married to his first wife, Princess Diana.
An insider told the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden: ‘With his love of horticulture, His Majesty’s performance at Chelsea was an important commitment.
‘It is a pity that his visit to Her Majesty the Queen received less attention than expected. I hope they’re not too disappointed.’
In his controversial memoir, Spare, Prince Harry claimed that he and his brother William were limited in the number of public engagements they could undertake.
The King’s youngest son wrote: ‘Dad and Camilla did not like Willy and Kate to divert attention from them or their goals. They had often openly abused Willy about it.’
Harry was referring to a time when his sister-in-law had an appointment with a tennis club on the same day that Charles and Camilla were due to appear at an official event elsewhere.
This was strictly forbidden, Harry explained, because such a “contagious” picture would ruin Charles and Camilla’s chances of being on the front page of the newspapers the next day.
He said, ‘That cannot be tolerated. When told it was too late to cancel the visit, Pa’s press officer warned: “Just make sure the Duchess is not holding a tennis racket in any of the photos.”
King Charles, pictured here, arriving on the show with Queen Camilla, is a well-known gardening and nature enthusiast
Concern that Kate could overshadow the king echoes similar claims during his first wedding to Princess Diana (pictured)
King Charles views a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show after arriving with Camilla on Monday
King Charles hugs Korean designer Jihae Hwang as he visits her ‘A Letter From A Million Years Past’ garden
At RHS Chelsea on Monday, the King and Queen showed no sign of annoyance at the surprise visit from the Princess of Wales, as they enjoyed themselves at the flower show.
Charles and Camilla took separate tours of some of the gardens, with the King revealing that he was looking for plants to replace those eaten by rabbits in Highgrove.
Meanwhile, the Queen couldn’t resist making an unscheduled stop at a Chelsea garden to test her swing.
Camilla stormed into the London Square Community Garden, designed by James Smith, designed to encourage people to meet, relax and share food, while connecting with nature.
Her Majesty admired the beautiful flowers and the giant communal table with chess and drought boards with up-cycled chairs made by Jay Blades of The Repair Shop, who was a guest at the coronation.
Later, the pair presented the first medals in the ‘Garden of Royal Reflection and Celebration’ to garden designer Piet Oudolf, Baroness Janet Fookes, champion of horticulture in parliament, and environmental champion Judy Ling Wong.
RHS President Keith Weed said: ‘The Royal Horticultural Society was exceptionally fortunate to have Her Majesty as our patron during her reign.
‘This award celebrates both Her Majesty’s glorious reign and the work she has done to raise the profile of British horticulture both nationally and internationally through her visits to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and wider work.’