Uncovering the Royal History of Chelsea Flower Show

In May 1862, the Great Spring Fair took place at  the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society in Kensington. The recently widowed Queen Victoria, patron of the society, gave her blessing to the event in honour of her late husband, Prince Albert, who had served as the society’s president. It was Albert who had given it a new royal charter in 1858 and permitted a name change from the London Horticultural Society to the Royal Horticultural Society, and, as part of his ambitious vision for a cultural and scientific centre in Kensington (dubbed ‘Albertopolis’), had been heavily involved in the establishment of an extravagant garden intended to be a showground for the society’s events.

The garden’s opening ceremony on 23 June 1861 would be Albert’s last public appearance in London before his premature death in December that year. Twenty-six years later, the show moved from the site now occupied by Imperial College and the Science Museum, to the Inner Temple Gardens in the City, and by 1913 had set up in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show had found its permanent home.  Through each successive reign, the royal presence has bestowed on Chelsea a special cachet. It is the serious garden show that is also a smart fixture on the social calendar, the crème de la crème of horticultural occasions.

Queen Alexandra took great interest in gardening matters and spent several hours looking round the inaugural Chelsea Flower Show in 1913. Queen Mary shared her passion, while the late Queen Elizabeth II visited most years from a young age, first accompanying her parents in the 1940s. The Queen Mother was involved in the creation of gardens all her life (including a garden at Royal Lodge, Windsor, named after the designer, Eric Savill). Her brother, Sir David Bowes-Lyon, served as treasurer and then president of the RHS until his death in 1961 and would escort his sister or niece around the show most years. Queen Elizabeth II’s final visit took place in May 2022, when the 96-year-old monarch was conveyed around in a buggy, looking spring-like in a pink coat.

In recent years, the Royal Family have been more actively involved. The Princess of Wales (when Duchess of Cambridge) co-designed the RHS Back to Nature Garden with architects Davies White, which was first exhibited at Chelsea in 2019. Created as part of the RHS’s partnership with NHS England, it was intended as a blueprint for how gardens can benefit physical and mental well-being, and is now a permanent fixture at RHS Wisley. In 2009, The Queen presented The Prince of Wales, avid gardener and advocate for the environment, with the society’s most prestigious award, the Victoria Medal of Honour, at the show. Now, as His Majesty The King, he is the RHS’s new patron and has wasted no time in implementing plans that link the royal gardens with the society’s activities, including an RHS show scheduled to take place at Sandringham in 2026.

The King and Queen are enthusiastic visitors to the show; among the gardens they visited last year was the RHS No Adults Allowed Garden, created by children for children; grown-ups can only gain admittance with a special pledge. The royal couple were delighted to be given the titles of King Compost and Queen of Bees. With such a green-fingered patron, the relationship between the Royal Family and Britain’s premier horticultural show will continue to bloom.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show takes place this year from 20 to 24 May. Visit rhs.org.uk for more information and read our full guide to the Chelsea Flower Show festivities both in the Royal Hospital grounds and beyond here.