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British Royals

The Queen’s Green Canopy: getting ready to plant a tree for the Jubilee

An ambitious project to leave a lasting legacy for the Platinum Jubilee, marking the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s reign, is already under way.

The Queen’s Green Canopy was launched earlier in 2021, encouraging everyone to ‘plant a tree for the Jubilee.’ Everyone from individuals to organisations and community groups, is being asked to plant a tree to mark the long and historic reign of Elizabeth II. And although the big party doesn’t start until next year, tree planting season is about to begin meaning a new focus on this special project. Alongside this, the Queen’s Green Canopy is also dedicating a network of 70 ancient woodlands across the United Kingdom and identifying 70 ancient trees to mark the Jubilee.

The Canopy has a starring role at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which starts on September 20th 2021, with Dame Judi Dench, one of the project’s ambassadors, calling on everyone to plant a tree. Ahead of that, Royal Central has caught up with organisers of the Queen’s Green Canopy to find out more about the scheme.

What inspired the idea of planting trees to mark the Platinum Jubilee?

Throughout Her reign, The Queen has planted more than 1,500 trees all over the world and has spoken alongside Sir David Attenborough of the importance of trees in Earth’s future. With a focus on planting sustainably, The Queen’s Green Canopy will encourage planting of trees to create a legacy in honour of The Queen’s leadership of the Nation, which will benefit future generations. 

Is there a specific date that trees have to be planted on?

The Queen’s Green Canopy will encourage everyone to learn more about the best way to plant trees so that they survive and flourish for years to come. Trees and hedgerows must be planted with care, at the right time of year, in the right place and with species that are not prone to prevailing tree diseases. The QGC initiative will encourage planting during the official planting season, October to March, to optimise the chance of trees surviving and flourishing. This will include planting in October 2021 through until the end of the Jubilee year.  


How long lasting will the legacy of this part of the Jubilee celebrations be?

We hope the trees planted as part of the QGC will still be flourishing for generations to come.


What do you hope this new green canopy will look like by we reach the big Jubilee weekend in 2022?

We are focussing on quality rather than quantity but that will be up to members of the public.  There are a number of large new community forests planned as well as many county projects so hopefully the QGC will add millions of trees to the UK.  There are about 22 million people in the UK with a garden so if everyone planted a tree in their backyard that would add quite a lot of trees!  We hope as many people as possible will plant. 

You can find out more about The Queen’s Green Canopy here.

About author

Lydia Starbuck is Jubilee and Associate Editor at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra. Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024. June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.