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Oct 09, 2023

Picnics and blooms: The Chelsea Flower Show in pictures

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the most prestigious of Britain's many such shows, is under way in London.

The annual display of cutting-edge floral designs is held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

King Charles and Queen Camilla visited the gardens including The Royal Tribute Garden which featured the late Queen's favourite flowers and the King's plants from his Sandringham Estate.

Earlier in the day, Catherine, Princess of Wales, hosted a children's picnic at a newly created garden at the show.

Ten schools from the Royal Horticultural Society's school gardening campaign were invited to bring pupils along, marking the first time in the event's 110-year history that a children's picnic has taken place.

Dame Joanna Lumley posed for a photograph at the Horatio charity garden during an early viewing for special guests and the media before the show opens to the general public.

Horatio's Garden by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg is designed to be an immersive, restorative and accessible haven, to be viewed from a bed or from a wheelchair.

DJ Jo Wiley, Baroness Benjamin and Deborah Meaden also made it along to the early view.

In an historic first for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Manoj Malde, who designed the vibrant and colourful RHS and Eastern Eye Garden of Unity, married his partner Clive Gillmor in the garden on Monday morning.

A bronze head of King Charles III sculpted by Keziah Burt was installed as part of the garden of 'royal reflection and celebration'.

The garden was designed by Dave Green to celebrate the recent coronation.

Exhibitors have been making last-minute adjustments to their displays before the gates open on Tuesday for the exhibition, which runs until 27 May.

Garden designer Tom Massey undertakes some pruning in the Royal Entomological Society show garden ahead of the opening.

Designer Jihae Hwang appeared in her Korean-inspired garden - A Letter From a Million Years Past.

TV personality Vicky Pattison slept out at the Chelsea Flower Show for Centrepoint to raise awareness about youth homelessness in the UK.

The focal point of the Centrepoint Garden by designer Cleve West is a part-demolished house where nature has taken over.

"The mixed planting, including so-called 'weeds' and a fallen tree, form a thriving, natural and evolving habitat, emphasising the important role a garden plays in making a house a home," says the RHS.

All photos subject to copyright.

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