King Charles 'not allowed to be honest on climate change', says Alan Titchmarsh
You should always be able to count on a good friend’s support when you’ve taken on a new role – even when you’re the monarch. So with 40 years of friendship behind them it’s little wonder that the nation’s favourite television gardener has nothing but praise and admiration for the King.
“Charles has done brilliantly. The amount of stability he, and the entire monarchy, have brought to society has been incredible – especially when everything else, like the NHS, the government and the BBC, seem to be falling apart,” says Alan Titchmarsh.
“Every large organisation seems to be under siege at the moment, but the monarch is holding the tiller as steady as it can be held.” As we approach the first anniversary of the death of Elizabeth II, Alan is in a reflective mood, explaining that he was “terribly moved” by this summer’s coronation celebrations.
The 74-year-old Love Your Garden stalwart made audiences chuckle when he revealed that the late Elizabeth II told him he gave “a lot of ladies a lot of pleasure” when she presented him with his MBE 23 years ago. But he believes King Charles has proved his worth with a “seamless” ascension to the throne.
“Over the years, we’ve come to know exactly what he stands for, which is custodianship of the landscape and the planet. It must be very different when you’re King compared to Prince. You’re less able to express your opinions, but we know what he feels in his heart.”
EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness
Throughout his life, King Charles has been a champion for environmental issues (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Alan, who has been friends with King Charles for 40 years, rose to fame after appearing on Ground Force in 1997 (Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock)There are no such restrictions on Alan’s opinions – especially when it comes to donning a spot of glitter for a certain dance show. “Strictly asked me again this year for the sixth time,” he admits. “My wife [Alison] taught dance and she said my knees won’t take the lifts and I think she’s quite right. So I stay clear of that one.”
It’s a pity – but perhaps the jungle is more his scene? “I was asked to do I’m A Celebrity last year and I turned that one down for about the third time, too,” he reveals. “That’s not my bag, I’m not a reality TV type. I like to be doing something, like presenting, rather than people assassinating me for the fluff in my navel!”
In any case, he’s much more about looking after the bugs than eating the bugs. “I worry about the damage to the wildlife on that show,” he says. Of course, Alan’s a seasoned pro when it comes to television. His first appearance was as a horticulture expert on the BBC’s current affairs show Nationwide in the early 1980s, but he became a household name after teaming up with fellow gardener Charlie Dimmock and DIY expert Tommy Walsh on Ground Force in 1997, and found new fans with Love Your Weekend in 2020.
As we chat to Alan from his home on a muggy summer morning, it comes as no surprise that he’s enjoying scenes of nature through his window. “I’m watching a moorhen preening and grooming itself on the lily pads – that’s what my garden is all about. It’s a microcosm of nature.”
He’s lived in his Grade II-listed Georgian farmhouse in Alton, Hampshire, for more than two decades now. He still enjoys tending to his four acres – with a little help from Alison, who he married in 1975 and with whom he has two daughters, Polly, 41, and Camilla, 39. Alan sparked a fierce debate among experts this summer, after offering his thoughts on rewilding in the garden. “People have assumed that rewilding means just letting it go and not doing anything. If you read properly about it, it’s not,” he says.
For us less green-fingered types, Alan argues that rewilding requires a fine balance between allowing nature to do its job, but not so much that you’re turning your back on the garden and allowing aggressive species to take over.
Author and conservationist Isabella Tree, who runs a 3,500-acre pioneering rewilding project at Knepp Castle in West Sussex, recently offered her thoughts after gardener Monty Don stated he shared Alan’s opinion. She argued they “shouldn’t be scared of rewilding”, and that it can actually be a “gardening revelation”. Alan still doesn’t agree.
“You can’t do what’s being done there [at Knepp] in the average domesticated garden. There are 900-plus species of plants and flowers. If you just let your back garden go, you won’t get that. You’ll get an ever-reducing number of species.”
A keen organic gardener for 14 years now, Alan avoids sprays and inorganic fertilisers and he makes his own compost. “The thing to remember is biodiversity comes from a wide range of plants as well as a wide range of creatures,” he says. “A good, well-run garden doesn’t have to go it alone. I feel very sad that gardeners are being made to feel guilty for growing flowers and plants that they love, because wildlife is not choosy about where your flowers come from. The more you can have with nectar and pollen, the more animals and wildlife will enjoy them. To make gardeners feel guilty for planting what they love is just nonsense.”
Alan’s latest book, Chatsworth, looks at how garden life has evolved over the years at the stunning stately home in Derbyshire. “It’s wonderful to see how rich, alive and vibrant the gigantic garden is. It’s in constant development, it’s so beautiful,” he says.
Bird charity banned from Twitter for repeatedly posting woodcock photos
As any true gardening royalty would expect, Alan has numerous flowers named after him, including a lupin, sweet pea and hosta. So which flower would he choose to represent his good friend the King? “That’s tough,” he chuckles. “My sweet pea has been going since the mid-80s. It’s lovely and pink, frilly and delicately scented. Maybe I’d just present the King with a big bunch of myself instead!”
*Chatsworth by Alan Titchmarsh is out on 31 August in hardback, published by Ebury Spotlight, priced £35.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
