Before gardens became something for everyone to enjoy, they were the exclusive preserve of royalty and the very wealthy. In 'Royal Gardeners' Alan Titchmarsh takes us on a fascinating tour through the history of these glamorous and inspiring royal gardens from medieval times to the present day.
Only a handful of these royal palaces and gardens survive today but, using modern photographs and period illustrations, Alan romps through hundreds of years of our horticultural heritage and reveals gardens as diverse and eccentric as the monarchs who created them. From a humble medieval bower purpose-built to entertain royal mistresses, to the overstated grandeur of palace gardens created as a symbol of power and to outdo our continental royal neighbours, Alan explores the scale and range of the gardens that were designed for the British monarchy through the centuries. Bringing history to live, Alan's journey takes in everything from the elegant Privy Garden and parterre at Hampton Court, to the grand Georgian gardens surrounding Kew Palace, as well as more recent royal gardens such as Osborne House, Balmoral, Sandringham and Buckingham Palace, before coming right up to date with the Prince of Wales' idyllic gardens at Highgrove.
Lavishly illustrated using original plans, designs and full-colour photographs of the major surviving gardens, this is a sumptuous book charting the many outstanding royal gardens in Britain's past and present.
Only a handful of these royal palaces and gardens survive today but, using modern photographs and period illustrations, Alan romps through hundreds of years of our horticultural heritage and reveals gardens as diverse and eccentric as the monarchs who created them. From a humble medieval bower purpose-built to entertain royal mistresses, to the overstated grandeur of palace gardens created as a symbol of power and to outdo our continental royal neighbours, Alan explores the scale and range of the gardens that were designed for the British monarchy through the centuries. Bringing history to live, Alan's journey takes in everything from the elegant Privy Garden and parterre at Hampton Court, to the grand Georgian gardens surrounding Kew Palace, as well as more recent royal gardens such as Osborne House, Balmoral, Sandringham and Buckingham Palace, before coming right up to date with the Prince of Wales' idyllic gardens at Highgrove.
Lavishly illustrated using original plans, designs and full-colour photographs of the major surviving gardens, this is a sumptuous book charting the many outstanding royal gardens in Britain's past and present.
