Why the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is so personal to King Charles III

Every year, British royalty, celebrities, and green thumbs alike all come together at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. For King Charles III, the five-day event is an opportunity to immerse himself in a botanical passion that’s been blooming for decades.

This year’s show began on Monday, with Charles and Queen Camilla visiting during its preview day at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, just before it opened to the public. As patron of the Royal Horticultural Society, the King looked right at home among the garden displays, rare flowers, and detailed landscapes that have been part of the show for more than a century.

The highlight for the royals was The King’s Foundation Curious Garden, a playful, nature-filled space designed by horticulturist Frances Tophill. The garden drew inspiration from Charles’s environmental work and his private gardens at Highgrove. It featured an artist’s easel made by Eleanor Pickin, a recent graduate from the Snowdon School of Furniture, and a beehive, which recognized both the King’s and David Beckham’s love of beekeeping.

Charles and Camilla enjoyed the opening of The King’s Foundation Curious Garden with Beckham, Alan Titchmarsh, and others.

Beckham joined the King and Queen during the tour, alongside familiar Chelsea Flower Show regulars, including TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh and Queen guitarist Brian May. Royal family members, such as Princess Anne, Prince Edward, and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, also attended the event.

Cameras caught Charles pausing to admire the newly unveiled “Sir David Beckham Rose,” a pale bloom created by David Austin Roses in honor of Beckham’s 50th birthday. In an Instagram video shared by The RHS, Beckham told the King the flower had been organized by his daughter, Harper, and “smells amazing.”

Charles made sure to stop and smell the roses, taking a whiff of a “Sir David Beckham Rose.”

One of the garden’s more whimsical features was a set of painted gnomes modeled after Charles, Beckham, Tophill, and Titchmarsh. This was especially notable, considering the RHS has had a long-standing ban on garden gnomes at Chelsea, a rule that has rarely been relaxed in years past, but this year is being lifted as some of the tiny figurines will be auctioned off to benefit charity.

The RHS last lifted its ban on gnomes in 2013. This year, it allowed a quartet of colorful figurines.

Now in its 113th year, the Chelsea Flower Show has always held a special place in royal tradition. Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’s late mother, attended often during her reign and was the RHS’s royal patron before Charles took over after her death. For his part, Charles has supported sustainable gardening and organic farming for years, making Highgrove one of Britain’s most respected private gardens and using gardening to promote environmental care.

This strong connection is why the show is still one of the King’s favorite public events. As a more casual counterpart to formal state occasions, Chelsea gives Charles a chance to talk directly with designers, gardeners, and craftspeople who share his love of nature.