Exclusive Preview: The Queen's Personal Garden Project
While Queen Elizabeth II famously avoided discussions about her own memorials or future coronation plans, there was one commemorative project she enthusiastically endorsed during her lifetime. Unlike her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who relished unveiling monuments to herself, Elizabeth II found personal tributes embarrassing. However, she made an exception for the forthcoming Queen Elizabeth II Garden in London's Regent's Park, revealed exclusively today.
A Garden Born from Pandemic Pause
The garden's origins trace back to before the Covid-19 pandemic, when Royal Parks trustees pondered what to do with an unsightly former nursery yard behind their Regent's Park office. The two-acre site was covered in industrial glasshouses, with proposals ranging from a concert hall to a luxury spa. Covid halted all plans until someone suggested creating a garden to honour the Queen, whose Platinum Jubilee approached in 2022.
Word traveled through official channels to Buckingham Palace and returned with Her Majesty's approval: "She would like that very much." The result, opening to the public next month and featuring on BBC's Gardeners' World on April 17, is a £5 million project entirely funded by Royal Parks commercial activities and private donations.
Commonwealth Blooms and Personal Touches
This is no traditional English garden. Designed for year-round interest, it features plants from across the Commonwealth, which the Queen regarded as one of her greatest achievements. Spring visitors enjoy daffodils and tulips, while autumn brings sky blue plumbago from South Africa. Later blooms include the Australian 'silky oak,' and benches are crafted from smooth New Zealand Accoya wood with comfort-enhancing "bumscoops."
Designers consulted the Queen's gardeners at Buckingham Palace and Windsor to include her favourites: a "Magnolia Windsor Beauty" as the first planted tree, abundant Lily of the Valley, myrtle from her wedding bouquet, and soon-to-bloom cherry blossoms. Mediterranean-style planting with lavender and rosemary—plants the Queen loved—thrives in crushed concrete from the old yard, replicating arid conditions for our hotter summers.
Symbolism and Sanctuary
The garden's layout reflects the Queen's life and reign. A straight path symbolizes her unwavering duty, while a meandering path crisscrossing it represents the twists and turns of her 70-year rule. A raised terrace bears engraved words from her 2013 Christmas broadcast: "We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection."
Shielded by mature trees and hedges, the garden offers remarkable quietness despite its central London location. "You might almost be in the Cotswolds—or Canberra," observes one visitor, capturing its tranquil, globally inspired essence. As former Royal Parks trustee Wesley Kerr OBE notes, this resilience in all weathers mirrors the Queen's own steadfastness.
Nearly four years after her passing, as plans for a national memorial remain in early stages, this garden stands as a living tribute Elizabeth II herself cherished—a fitting homage to a monarch who found solace and celebration in nature.
