It must be a strange job being King. One minute you’re facing up to US President Donald Trump in the US Congress. The next you’re being introduced to garden gnomes.
King Charles and Queen Camilla were at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, a strange and beautiful place.
For only the second time, a ban on gnomes has been lifted this year by the Royal Horticultural Society, an opportunity that seemed to have been grasped by gardeners with both tiny ceramic hands.
The King was shown a row of gnomes – including one in his likeness – in a cottage inspired by his own Highgrove house in Gloucestershire.
It must have felt like a fever dream moment. When the King went into this rustic cottage in the Curious Garden, waiting for him was Sir David Beckham and TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh.
The King collaborated on the garden’s creation with Sir David and Titchmarsh, whom he met inside a wooden hut on the site filled with gnomes, artwork, dangling plants, balls of yarn, jars of honey and even vodka.
On the shelf, also waiting for the royal arrival, there were gnomes of Sir David, Alan and King Charles. Although to be fair to the famous footballer, the years haven’t been kind to his gnome version, even if they’ve caught his current hair colour.
Sir David Beckham playing on the left wing of this ideal gnome exhibition line-up
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