It's no surprise that many people have a fascination with how members of the Royal Family live day to day, though what might shock people is just how relatable their lives can often be behind closed doors. Of course, this isn't the case with every aspect, but King Charles's former royal gardener has revealed the kinds of affordable houseplants the monarch has at his Highgrove House residence.
Highgrove House is King Charles’s Gloucestershire estate and it's where Jack Stooks used to work for over two decades. In a recent appearance on ITV's This Morning, Jack revealed that His Majesty always liked to keep scented geraniums in the royal residence.
Jack was asked by Ben Shephard and Alison Hammond just what sort of houseplants the King likes, to which he explained, "Scented geraniums are always a good one… the nice flowering pelargoniums that we always had cuttings of that you could take cuttings of so they continue to keep on giving."
"When [King Charles] wasn't there, they were in the glass house, and when he was there, they were taken back up to the house," he added.
Geraniums, also known as pelargoniums, are flowering plants that come in a wide variety of colours, including white, pink, red, orange and mauve, with some double varieties. When indoors, they are best kept on a sunny windowsill or in a heated conservatory, where they can flower year-round. Their scented leaves can smell of rose, eucalyptus, peppermint, lemon, orange, balsam or apple.
On his social media page, @theroyalgardenerofficial, Jack has also previously illustrated how pelargoniums in a window box are a perfect way to achieve a lovely display even if you don’t have much garden space - a clever idea for those living in flats or looking for the best flowers for smaller spaces.
Also on his Instagram, Jack has shared more insight into the types of flowers that would be found at Highgrove. In one post, he explained how a purple Dahlia was always used in the main pot at the front of the house at Highgrove.
"The King loved this dahlia, and [spring] is the time to get those dahlias in pots and bringing them on for this summer," he declared in the caption.
The King's love of nature and being outdoors makes Highgrove House a perfect fit for his private countryside residence. His primary home is Clarence House in London, but King Charles is known to still spend a lot of time in Gloucestershire and we got some lovely glimpses of the estate in his recent Amazon Prime Video documentary, Finding Harmony: A King's Vision
He and Queen Camilla's shared passion for British flowers in particular was also celebrated with the design of their coronation invitation. Her Bruce Oldfield dress for the occasion was meticulously embroidered with the floral emblems of the UK, as well as wildflowers like daisy chains, forget-me-nots, scarlet pimpernel and celandine.
