Queen Camilla has long had a green thumb, but one of her favourite garden ornaments is a little bit kitschy. The royal is known to be a fan of gnomes, even joking in ITV documentary Camilla's Country Life: "No place like gnome!"
However, the royal's favourite garden decoration has long been banned from the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which she often visits. The lifting of the ban, which is only the second time in the show's 114-year history, is partially inspired by King Charles' Highgrove gardens, where a gnome can be found in the stumpery.
Camilla also has garden gnomes at her Wiltshire retreat, nestled in the stumpery, and they were seen when she guest edited an issue of Country Life.
The lifting of the ban is being championed by Charles, Sir David Beckham and Alan Titchmarsh, who are also promoting The King's Foundation Curious Garden. This specific garden is seeking to inspire the next generation of gardeners and encourage people into careers in environmental and rural crafts.
Speaking of the lifting of the ban, Clare Matterson, the Chelsea Flower Show's director-general, said: "We also want people to be playful with their gardening, which is why we're lifting the gnome ban for these celebrity gnomes, who will then, by being auctioned off, help us do even more to awaken a curiosity in gardening in school children and support our national campaign for school gardening."
The previous time that the ban had been lifted was in 2013, in order to mark the show's 100th anniversary. Decorative gnomes were designed by the likes of Dame Helen Mirren and Davina McCall before they were auctioned off for a campaign around school gardening.
Gnome renaissance
Garden gnomes date back to 18th-century Germany, although the figures which were then made out of wood or porcelain were stored inside the home as opposed to outside. The diminutive figures were later placed outside and became a symbol of wealth across continental Europe.
© Getty ImagesThey were brought over to the UK in 1847 by Sir Charles Isham, and one of them, nicknamed Lampy, can still be viewed to this day. Gnomes experienced a few renaissances during the 20th century, including after the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the 1930s, where their designs were intended to be more whimsical.
However, they really entered the public psyche in the 1970s when new novelty designs, sometimes based on celebrities and other public figures, became popular. Although the gnomes started appealing to the mass public at this time, they lost the allure that they had previously had from the landed gentry. Another resurgence in popularity happened in the 1990s when French pranksters would steal gnomes from properties before sending pictures back to their owners of the garden ornament in humorous places or positions.
