How Prince George and Princess Charlotte helped with Hampton Court Garden

published 3 July 2019

Prince George and Princess Charlotte helped source materials for Kate Middelton's new ‘Back To Nature’ garden, which is now open to visitors at Hampton Court Palace.

Kate Middleton’s garden was originally hosted at the Royal Chelsea Flower Show, but has been moved to RHS Hampton Court Palace for a limited time.

The Duchess of Cambridge has now shared how five-year-old Prince George and four-year-old Princess Charlotte went foraging for pine cones to hide in the garden, ahead of a children's treasure hunt at the palace.

School children from the local Hampton Hill Junior School were the first visitors to set foot in the new space, which is double the size of the original. During their visit, they went off in search of eight pine cones hidden by the young royals with magnifying glasses.

The Duchess even added an extra element to the new garden for son George, telling the landscapers to add stepping-stones because her son ‘loves them’.

Jake Catling of Landscape Consultants said: ‘We made the stepping stones because Prince George wanted them. The kids loved jumping across and it was down to Kate we got that in.

‘This was just a field and we brought in 18 articulated lorries worth of stuff in and we had a team of up to 20 people.’

The garden’s new design was inspired by the original, featuring a waterfall, dens and a hollow log, alongside many other additions. It aims to encourage families to engage with nature and spend more time outside.

Speaking about the garden, Kate said that it can help to ‘develop skills for life through active play, building confidence, strength, creativity and resilience.’

If you’d like to visit the garden for yourself, head to the Hampton Court Palace Festival, which is open until July 7.

Guest can explore a range of other gardens, including the BBC Springwatch Garden and the Cancer Research UK Pledge Pathway to Progress.

Lucy Buglass is a Digital Writer for What's on TV, Goodto.com, and Woman&Home. After finishing her degree in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University she moved to London to begin her career. She's passionate about entertainment and spends most of her free time watching Netflix series, BBC dramas, or going to the cinema to catch the latest film releases.