Princess Diana Honored With New Kensington Palace Garden
By Sophie Hirsh. Photos: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images.
Nearly 20 years after Princess Diana’s tragic death, Kensington Palace has unveiled a garden in her honor. Known as the White Garden, the display is situated in the Sunken Garden, right near the Palace’s visitor's entrance. It will be open to the public, free of charge, from Easter weekend until September. Diana resided in Kensington Palace for 15 years during her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales.
As reported by E! News, the brains behind the garden belong to Sean Harkin, Kensington Palace’s head gardener. Harkin came up with the idea because he wanted to honor the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death. “My team and I have been planning this display for over a year, and we’re thrilled it’s now blossoming and ready for the public to visit and enjoy,” Harkin said in a press release obtained by E. “As we’ve been working in the garden, many of our palace visitors have stopped to talk to us and share their own memories of Diana, Princess of Wales. We hope that our garden captures the energy and spirit that made her such a popular figure around the world.”
Harkin recalled one such story. “I remember there was another gardener who told me a story about when he was walking along with a wheelbarrow with a fellow gardener. It’s really embarrassing, but he tripped. He kind of fell over. It was overweighted, the wheelbarrow, so everything kind of spilled everywhere. Princess Diana was going by and turned around and said, ‘Bad luck, chaps,’ and kind of gave a smile,” he said. “And they kind of smiled and found it really quite funny, but also it’s quite embarrassing when that happens.”
The White Garden is a fitting name, as photos reveal approximately 12,000 flowers, most of which are white, ranging from tulips to daffodils to hyacinths. People notes that as the weather gets warmer, more flowers will appear in the garden, including roses, lilies, gladioli, cosmos, gaura, and fragrant nemesia.
Also in honor of the 20-year anniversary of Diana’s death, Kensington Palace is displaying an exhibition called Diana: Her Fashion Story, which showcases 26 of her outfits.
Check out some more photos of the garden here.
This story originally appeared on Conde Nast Traveler.
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