King Charles and Queen Camilla delighted royal fans with their traditional visit to the Chelsea Flower Show yesterday.

The magnificent annual display of Britain’s gardening prowess has long been a fixture on the royal calendar.

The King was named patron of The Royal Horticultural Society earlier this month – more than 70 years after his late mother Queen Elizabeth II took on the role when she became monarch.

First established in 1913, the Chelsea Flower Show, which takes place in the grounds of the Royal Chelsea Hospital in London, has become one of the world’s greatest showcases for horticultural excellence attracting visitors from all over the globe. 

But visits from members of the Royal Family are almost as much a fixture as the plants, as these pictures show.

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King Charles and Queen Camilla walk with Keith Weed (left), president of Royal Horticultural Society at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2023

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Queen Elizabeth, soon after her accession, visits the 1952 Chelsea Flower Show

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Kate Middleton with pupils at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2023

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The Princess of Wales chats with schoolchildren at the Chelsea Flower Show’s first ever Children’s Picnic in 2023

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The Princess of Wales deep in conversation with a young pupil at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2023

Queen Mary stops at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1920 to pat a friendly dog

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Queen Mary points to an exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1950

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King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, talking to the architect of a miniature waterfall built in one of the display gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1950

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A gardener putting the finishing touches to a large ER II emblem in a garden by William Wood & Son in May 1953 – just days before the Coronation

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Queen Elizabeth II enjoying the view as the Duke of Edinburgh talks to the Hon David Bowes-Lyon during a viewing of a rock garden in 1958

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The Queen pictured eating a strawberry in 1977 – the year of her successful Silver Jubilee

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Queen Elizabeth II on a tour of the Chelsea Flower Show in May 1960

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French florist Louisette Meilland hands Princess Margaret a rose to sniff in 1968. The flower had been named after the Queen’s sister

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The Queen Mother attends the Chelsea Flower Show in 1956

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The Queen Mother visiting the Daily Express Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1978

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Diana, Princess of Wales admiring the plants at the Chelsea Flower Show in May 1984

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Princess Michael Of Kent made an appearance at the 1993 Chelsea Flower Show

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The Queen smiles as she is shown an exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2004

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Queen Elizabeth II wows in purple at the 2006 Chelsea Flower Show

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The late Queen is shown around the Back To Nature exhibit by Catherine, as Prince William watches on in 2019

Queen Elizabeth II presenting her son Prince Charles, a keen gardener, with a Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour during a visit to Chelsea Flower Show in May 2009

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King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, smells a Highgrove rose during the Chelsea Flower Show in 2009

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Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, smelling some of the flowers on display in 2006

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Princess Beatrice was presented with this rose at the 2011 show

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King Charles and Queen Camilla enjoy the stepping stones in 2007

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Queen Camilla attending the preview day for the annual Chelsea Flower Show in May 2006

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Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank walk hand-in-hand in May 2016

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A floral display celebrates Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012

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Kate Middleton was one of the exhibitors in 2019. Here experts with Andree Davies and Adam White pay a visit to her garden

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The late Queen Elizabeth II and the current Prince and Princess of Wales  in 2019

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Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in 2022 which celebrated the Platinum Jubilee. This was the last Chelsea Flower Show she would attend before her death in September

Beaming Queen tours the gardens at Chelsea on a buggy

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Edward and Sophie are given a tour of The Chelsea Flower Show in 2022

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Prince Edward and Sophie visit to Chelsea Flower Show in September 2021. It was delayed from its usual date in spring due to the pandemic

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Lady Helen Taylor, daughter of the Duke of Kent, arrives at the show in 2007

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King Charles and Queen Camilla speak with a couple who were married in the Eastern Eye Garde of Unity during the Chelsea Flower Show in 2023