Monday 23 May 2022 10:10 PM It's the Queen of carts! The Queen was in full bloom at Chelsea Flower Show, ... trends now
Having travelled by almost every conceivable means of transport during her record-breaking reign – including Concorde, carriages, steam trains, elephants and a South Pacific war canoe – the Queen can now add one more to the list.
Last night, she made her official British debut in a golf cart in order to attend one of her favourite events: The Chelsea Flower Show.
A little over half a century after devising the walkabout – when she first plunged in to a crowd of strangers during a 1970 visit to Wellington, New Zealand – Her Majesty has now invented the cartabout. And I am sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of it.
The Queen attended the Chelsea Flower Show ahead of its official opening tomorrow in a luxury mobility buggy (pictured)
The Queen looked cheery as she enjoyed a tour around the 2022 Chelsea Flower Show. Pictured next to the President of the Royal Horticultural Society, Keith Weed
The Queen was in good spirits on her first visit in three years to the world famous flower show in London
There are few non-state occasions in the national calendar which have enjoyed the sort of devotion the Queen has displayed towards the Chelsea Flower Show throughout her life. She has been coming here almost every year since she was a child.
And she plainly loves it as much as ever, judging by her enthusiasm last night as, dressed in luminous pink, she inspected displays dedicated to mental health, lifeboats, community cohesion – and herself.
There, in the Grand Marquee, she was introduced to a giant silhouette of her own head, made by royal florist Simon Lycett and comprised of 70 hand-thrown flower pots, each planted with lily of the valley (her favourite). She appeared delighted when Mr Lycett informed her the plants would be going from here to a selection of schools.
There were plenty of other familiar faces, too. When top grower Raymond Evison was introduced as ‘the King of the Clematis’, the Queen of the United Kingdom replied: ‘I know he is!’ And at the garden for the charity Mind, she paused for a long discussion on the soothing qualities of dark poppies.
It has been three years since the Queen last attended the show, memorably inspecting the Duchess of Cambridge’s child-friendly ‘Back To Nature’ garden in 2019. Back then, she was on foot.
Buckingham Palace confirmed a last-minute decision was made for her to attend
Pre-pandemic, pre-widowhood, pre-‘episodic mobility problems’, that occasion might now feel like another age. Yet none of Chelsea’s perennial appeal – its life-affirming sense of renewal and its sweet-scented promise of summer just around the corner – has been lost.
That’s why the Queen has always been thrilled to be here.
The first fixture of the time-honoured British ‘Season’, it serves as the harbinger of so many beloved summer traditions – Trooping the Colour, Royal Ascot, Goodwood and the rest.
Spread over 23 acres, the showground is a demanding walk for any visitor. The main marquee alone can accommodate 500 London buses.
So there was no way, in her 97th year, that she could have enjoyed all this on foot. Here was the perfect opportunity to unveil the latest addition to the vehicle fleet in the Royal Mews. Prices for the six-seater model start at £20,000.
Driven by a royal chauffeur, in peaked cap and gloves, the six-seat buggy kept a stately walking pace indoors and out. The Queen was accompanied by the Royal Horticultural Society president, Keith Weed, while her lady-in-waiting, Jennifer Gordon-Lennox, and Mrs Weed sat at the back. At every turn, the Queen seemed to have an observation or a point to make.
Her Majesty the Queen had a £62,000 Daria batter-powered golf buggy delivered to help her with recent mobility issues that comes complete with hi-tech specs including a fridge and entertainment screen
Despite the well-rehearsed route, there were plenty of
