Published: 11:32, 18 May 2020 | Updated: 12:40, 18 May 2020
One of the brightest spots on the summer calendar is the Chelsea Flower Show, but this year’s cancellation sees it join the long list of events that have fallen foul to coronavirus restrictions.
Royals, celebrities and members of the public were expecting to head to the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London, to see the gardens and displays.
And while there will still be an online version of the world famous show, here’s a look at some of the highlights of past years.
Social distancing has never been easy at the Chelsea Flower Show site– here crowds gather in 1998 (PA)Visitors admiring the colourful displays in 1966 (PA)
The royal family have always shown their support for the event.
The Prince of Wales smelling a Highgrove rose in 2009 (Sang Tan/PA)The Queen next to a floral exhibit by the New Covent Garden Flower Market display in 2016 (Adrian Dennis/PA)The Queen also visited in 1971 (PA)King George V and Queen Mary attended in 1930 (PA)The Duchess of Cambridge designed a garden in 2019 (Yui Mok/PA)
A few celebrities have even had flowers and plants named after them.
Actress Dame Judi Dench holding an apricot rose named after her in 2017 (Victoria Jones/PA)Dame Helen Mirren with a new cultivar, Nepenthes Helen, a carnivorous plant named after her at the Borneo Exotics garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2011 (PA)
The event is held each year at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, where the grounds are transformed into displays and shops selling everything from plants to garden equipment.
The gates to the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 2008 (top) and last week when it would usually be busy with construction work ahead of opening (Lewis Whyld/Victoria Jones/PA)Chelsea Pensioner Stan Kendrick, 92, looking at a garden called A Colourful Suburban Eden in 2004 (Stefan Rousseau/PA)Becky Frost making the final floral arrangements on the Marks and Spencer display in 2017 (PA)Team GB’s Olympic Men’s Sabreurs Alex O’Connell (left) and James Honeybone putting on a display in 2012 (PA)Synchronised swimmers perform in a pond in 2015 (Dominic Lipinski/PA)A floral display by W&S Lockyer from Purley, Surrey in 2015 (PA)Rain failed to dampen the excitement in 2006 (PA)Finishing touches being applied to the Childhood Of Memories display in 2019 (PA)
