The Royal Family's influence can be felt all over the UK - whether that is in our national food preferences or our architecture.
As well as this, one of the principle ways their views have impacted us is through gardening and horticultural design. Aside from their visual beauty and providing a habitat for so much plant and animal life, today’s royal gardens at the likes of Hampton Court Palace and Highgrove House fulfil another important function. “They’ve been around so long that they really help tell the story of our Kings and Queens,” says Graham. “So although what you see in the gardens is wonderful, what lies underground is equally fascinating – the archaeology of previous garden layouts including fountains and waterways going back 500 years." Graham continued: “If you cut through it, you’d see all these different layers of history, because head gardeners and monarchs were incredibly respectful of what had gone before.
Although they adjusted the gardens and put in a new layer, they generally kept the same shape.They wanted to keep a bit of old England as they saw it, but remodelled their way.” While the King’s lifelong dedication to gardening is admirable, royal interest in creating beautiful outdoor spaces goes back nearly 1,000 years to the Norman Conquest, when William The Conqueror built Windsor Castle on what was then a vast Saxon hunting ground.
In the 13th century, under the influence of Henry III’s wife, Eleanor of Provence, royal gardens really began to blossom, popping up at English castles including Windsor, Arundel and Marlborough.
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