The Duchess of Cornwall enjoyed a day of flowers on Wednesday as she took part in two very different engagements with horticulture at their heart. From a spot of flower arranging at Clarence House – all in a good cause – to a tour of one of the world’s most famous flower shows, Camilla was surrounded by nature on the hottest day of the year so far.
The Duchess of Cornwall at a previous RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show – this year she ended up posing next to a larger than life Mr Tickle
The day began at Clarence House where The Duchess welcomed an organisation which tries to use flowers to bring happiness to some of the most needy in society. Floral Angels is a London based charity which takes flowers donated from weddings, big events and florists and recycles them to make arrangements, bouquets and posies for people in need. It was started by three women who met on a floral design course – Amanda Romain, Julie Ritter and Frances Hunter. The philosophy of their creation is that a bouquet of flowers can offer support, kindness and encouragement.
Today they worked with The Duchess of Cornwall to recycle donated flowers into a bouquet for Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre – Camilla is their President. The posy was made up of purple, white and pink flowers and while there the team also produced a pretty red arrangement in a recycled honey jar from Clarence House. The Duchess – in images shared on Twitter – donned a mauve apron before tackling the flower arranging and photos of her creation were also shared on royal social media.
Not long afterwards, and with temperatures in the south east climbing towards record levels for July, Camilla was on her way to the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. And she was ready for the warm weather carrying a parasol and accepting the offer of an ice cream when she arrived.
The Duchess of Cornwall was helping to mark the 25th anniversary of the Flower Show and she spent several hours touring different displays and gardens at the event which is on until Sunday. And Camilla paid a special visit to the display of the organisation Scotty’s Little Soldiers which helps the children of service personnel who have been killed while serving in the Armed Forces.
To mark the event’s special birthday this year’s show includes silver anniversary floristry, historic gardens and scarecrows celebrating the past. And one entrant to the annual scarecrow competition provided one of the royal photos of the week when Camilla found herself standing next to a giant Mr Tickle made of recycled carrier bags.
And the day came full circle when Camilla shared a tip with some other visitors to the show. Her specialist subject was flower arranging and she told her audience that keeping blooms looking fresh indoors is simple – just add a dash of lemonade to their water. Today was all about flowers for Camilla.
Photo credit: Gareth Williams via Flickr
