Duelling duchesses sow the seeds of royal garden rift

Kate’s classic design for the Chelsea flower show risks being left in the shade by an eco-garden from a charity backed by Meghan.

Kensington Palace has intervened in what could have been a Chelsea flower show disaster. Picture: Matrix

It is a problem many gardeners would recognise: your prize bloom takes pride of place until, out of nowhere, an unexpected interloper appears, thrives and overshadows it.

Until the weekend the highlight of the Chelsea flower show was expected to be a family-friendly classic English garden co-designed by the Duchess of Cambridge. But there is a second garden enjoying royal patronage at Chelsea this year — and it is already causing a kerfuffle.

A charity supported by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is to showcase an African climate change garden — just a stone’s throw away from Kate’s garden, where children can pick wild strawberries and toast marshmallows over an open fire.

Kate Middleton's family-friendly design for the Chelsea Flower Show. Picture: Adam Vallance

The African garden for the charity Camfed could not be more different. It features a breezeblock school house surrounded by crops that girls can learn to grow, such as peanuts and okra, as well as solar panels and a smart ­irrigation system.

It is inspired by a young gardener called Beauty Gombana, who already grows bio-fortified beans to cope with droughts caused by climate change that threaten the survival of families in sub-Saharan Africa.

Kensington Palace, presumably aware of the risk of headlines about “sisters-in-law at war”, has intervened to stop Meghan and Harry’s glamour eclipsing Kate’s pride and joy. Camfed, which supports girls in rural Africa to stay in education, has been told it cannot use a photograph of Harry surrounded by some of its young Zimbabwean alumni to publicise its garden, designed by London gardener Jilayne Rickards, on the website of the Royal Horticultural Society. Kensington Palace said the decision on the photo was taken by administrators and the duke was “incredibly supportive” of the charity’s work.

“It’s because the Duchess of Cambridge is co-designing a garden, so … we can’t use the photo. The palace is worried about mixed messaging,” said a source at Camfed. A photo of Kate features prominently in an article on the RHS website about her garden.

The African garden was revealed just days after the announcement that William and Harry are to separate their royal households.

The Camfed garden backed by Prince Harry and Meghan. Picture: Camfed

Camfed is one of a small number of charities backed by both Meghan and Harry, who are passionate about Africa, as they forge new roles as roving ambassadors for the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, giving a “voice” to the young people of the 53 Commonwealth states.

On International Women’s Day earlier this month, Meghan, who last year invited Camfed to meetings in Kensington Palace, shared a platform with Angeline Murimirwa, the charity’s Africa director, and called on feminists to sponsor a girl through school overseas. Harry, who introduced his wife to Camfed, has spoken out about the risks of climate change.

The charity is hoping that Meghan, who is soon to become a new mother, will visit the African garden. The charity also hopes for a visit from either Harry or the Queen, the president of the QCT. The garden will be moved to the Eden Project in Cornwall after the Chelsea show.

The royal commentator Andrew Morton said he expected Harry and Meghan to spend a lot of their time supporting charities outside the UK. “Prince Harry has said he would like to live outside England and at one time said he wanted to be a safari guide. Meghan in her single days would catch jets like most of us would take an Uber,” he said.

Penny Junor, biographer of both William and Harry, said: “Everything I hear is that the relationship between the two households is not good. It is not just the sisters-in-law but the brothers too, which is sad. Those boys were so close and their plans were that they would remain close, that Harry would be William’s wingman.”

Already the Meghan effect is bringing in support to Camfed. After Meghan appeared with Murimirwa on International Women’s Day donations spiked and visits to its website doubled.

The Sunday Times