It is no secret that King Charles III has long approached gardening not as a respectable pastime, but as a serious, sustaining practice – just look at his Highgrove Gardens as proof of his passion. However, this year he has decided to give his private love a public platform at the first-ever RHS Sandringham Flower Show.
The monarch is collaborating with award-winning landscape designer Catherine MacDonald on a new feature garden, marking the first occasion an RHS show has been staged at the royal residence in Gloucestershire, in the South West of England
Although the Sandringham Flower Show itself is a long-established event within the royal calendar, this year represents its inaugural outing under the Royal Horticultural Society.
The garden, titled the RHS Royal Legacy Garden, will be designed by Catherine MacDonald in consultation with the King. It will draw on many of his favoured plants, incorporate locally sourced Norfolk materials, and highlight traditional rural skills, offering an editorially minded reflection on the King's enduring commitment to horticulture and landscape stewardship.
'We're thrilled to announce that the Feature Garden at the new RHS Sandringham Flower Show will be designed in collaboration with His Majesty The King,' a post from the horticultural society and the Sandringham Estate shared.
The announcement adds that the garden will celebrate 'His Majesty’s passion for horticulture, including many of his favourite plants as well as local Norfolk materials and showcasing rural skills.'
Alongside the Royal Legacy Garden, the show will introduce two new awards bestowed by the King and Queen. The King will personally select his choice for outstanding contribution to biodiversity, while The Queen will present an award for the finest Upcycled Container – celebrating community creativity in transforming discarded materials into miniature container gardens.
The news about King Charles's RHS garden also coincides with his royal film, Finding Harmony: A King's Vision (available to watch on Amazon).
The film is a deeply personal reflection on the King’s belief in living in balance with the natural world, particularly his beloved gardens. It traces how his ideas about ecological harmony and seeing humanity as part of nature have shaped his life’s work. It features new footage filmed at the beautiful Highgrove House Gardens, showing Charles walking among the vegetable plots he has developed and cared for over the decades.
If these gardens are a hint of what we can expect to see from the Royal Legacy Garden, then we have very high hopes indeed.
Tickets for the RHS Sandringham Flower Show are available online. However, for those who can't make the trip, this book offers a detailed insight into the estate, focusing on the evolving architecture and changing decor across the centuries.
Blending narrative history with family chronicle, Sandringham marks the centenary of one of the world’s most famous private country houses.
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