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For those
who promptly time their Christmas Day celebrations around The
Queen’s televised speech at 3pm have got another treat in store to
add to their festivities this year! After Her Majesty has finished
her annual message to the nation on BBC One, viewers can eagerly
flick over to ITV at 3:10pm to watch The Queen’s
Garden – a two part series beginning on Christmas Day which
looks at the diverse gardens of Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace continues to be a top-spot for tourists when
visiting London. However, hidden away from the hustle and bustle of
the centre of the capital are 39 acres of land and extensive
gardens, some of which are not open to the public. In this series,
gardener Alan Titchmarsh takes viewers through this haven of
flowers, wildlife and trees, discussing the current upkeep of such
vast gardens, and the history behind Royal horticulture.
Speaking about the series, the director of factual commissioning at
ITV, Richard Klien commented: “There is something magical about a
garden hidden behind high walls, and no more so than at Buckingham
Palace. The Queen’s Garden is a delightful and
charming exploration of that magical world, with a light dusting of
royal history.”
Dr Lucy Worsley, writer and chief curator of Historic Royal
Palaces, has contributed to the historical side of The Queen’s
Garden. Through her research, she has delved into the
great history of the gardens, looking at the likes of Henry
VIII’s hunting grounds and Queen Victoria’s garden parties. I
recently spoke to Lucy about the upcoming episodes and asked
her a few questions about the secrets behind the Royal gardens…
Would you be able to give our readers an insight into what
the series is about?
The garden at Buckingham Palace is like a green oasis in the
middle of London, nearly as big as Green Park itself. Most
people don’t know that it’s there, hidden away behind high walls
while the traffic whizzes past outside. It’s home to a
surprising number of different species of plants and creatures, but
I’m particularly interested in its history.
It was originally a private, aristocratic garden that only
became royal in the reign of George III, when the king acquired the
Duke of Buckingham’s ‘Buckingham House’ for his wife Queen
Charlotte. (Even today you might hear people familiarly
calling the place ‘Buck House’.) Although it’s right in
the heart of modern London, the garden models many of the major
trends in British garden history: the formal style of the Baroque
age, the curving lines and informality of Capability Brown, then a
more picturesque approach in the nineteenth century. And today,
although of course you can’t just wander in off the street,
thousands of people do have access to it through The Queen’s summer
garden parties, making it like a giant outdoor entertaining
room.
After working with Alan Titchmarsh on this series, it must
have been interesting to combine horticulture and Royal history
together. Were there any surprises you unearthed during your
research that our readers can look forward to finding out about in
the episodes?
I’m not sure if it made it into the final programme, but I was
particularly surprised to learn about a performance by a 1920s jazz
band, for the younger members of the Royal Family, in the bottom of
the drained lake!
The series takes a look at Henry VIII’s hunting grounds.
How important do you think it was for monarchs to have hunting
grounds, especially in the early modern period?
Essential. You needed a big game park to provide the fresh meat
cooked in your kitchens (peasants, if they ate meat, ate it salted)
and you’d want to show off your horsemanship and athleticism. As
Plato said, a King rides a powerful horse to show that he can
control power. It’s a metaphor for the fact that he can control his
powerful emotions, and be a good ruler.
The annual summer garden parties at Buckingham Palace are
always something to marvel at. Could you tell us a little bit about
when and why they came about?
Afternoon parties were introduced so that Queen Victoria could
get a lot of her entertaining done all in one go. In later years,
when her mobility was reduced, she actually drove among her guests
in a little cart.
Buckingham Palace has a vast 39 acres of land and gardens,
some of which are not open to the public. With that in mind, is
there a particular part of the garden which is your
favourite?
The lake, I think. If only it still have its
flamingos!
Special thanks to Lucy Worsley for speaking to Royal
Central about the series.
The Queen’s Garden is presented by Alan
Titchmarsh, directed by Martin Williams, and produced by Peter
Collins.
Episode one will air at 3:10pm on Christmas Day on ITV and the
second episode will be broadcast at 6pm on Sunday 28th December on
ITV.
Photo credit: Alex Jilitsky via photopin
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