Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Her Majesty The Queen loved the gardens of her various homes for the outdoor peace and tranquillity they offered, as places to walk with her dogs and to enjoy nature’s beauty. She also took a keen interest in the gardens’ changes and planting throughout the decades of her reign.

In 1927, when the National Garden Scheme was founded by the Queen’s Nursing Institute in memory of their Patron, Queen Alexandra, her son King George V confirmed that the garden of Sandringham (pictured above), Alexandra’s favourite royal home, would be one of the 600 to open for the new scheme. Today Sandringham is one of only two gardens that have opened in every year since 1927 and the National Garden Scheme has always been profoundly grateful for ongoing support of Her Majesty The Queen. In 2012, The year of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, when the National Garden Scheme celebrated its founding gardens, Her Majesty received a special plaque from the charity’s chairman Penny Snell.

In 1946 The Queen’s father, King George VI, gave permission for the garden at Frogmore House in the park of Windsor Castle, to open in support of the National Garden Scheme. With its pastoral landscape and elegant house, Frogmore quickly became a favourite destination for visitors and to date it has raised more for the charity than any other single garden.

More than at any of her other homes, The Queen’s support for the National Garden Scheme was demonstrated when in 1948, just a few months after her marriage she opened the garden of Windlesham Moor in Surrey, the first country home that she shared with the Duke of Edinburgh. The garden was open again in 1949 the year that Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh moved to live in Malta where The Duke was posted by the Royal Navy.

Chief Executive of the National Garden Scheme, George Plumptre says; “Her Majesty The Queen has been a shining example of unique qualities throughout all of our lives and her death has a profound impact on every single one of us. Her love of gardens and enthusiastic support of charities encapsulated how she was bound into the fabric of our nation, which made her the object of everyone’s deep respect and affection.

We extend our sincere condolences to all of the Royal Family, especially to His Majesty King Charles III who has been Patron of the National Garden Scheme from 2002 when he followed his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.”

As a mark of respect to Her Majesty The Queen no gardens will open on the day of Her Majesty’s funeral.