Prince Harry’s charity, Sentebale, entered a garden into the Chelsea Flower show, and the 30-year-old showed some of his family members around.
The garden is entitled ‘Hope in Vulnerability’ and aims to take visitors to Lesotho, in Southern Africa where the charity is based and does its work. Prince Harry was part of the design team, and proudly showed it off to the public and his family today.
The garden was designed by Matt Keightley and is to raise awareness of and tackle the stigma of HIV in adolescents; the charity also provides access to care and education and provides psychosocial support.
‘It’s fantastic. It’s everything I could have wished. If my garden was big enough I’d move it into my garden,’ said Harry.
‘There are certain parts of this that are exactly like Africa and the rest takes you on this journey of what it could be like. This is our way of trying to bring a little bit of Lesotho to Chelsea.’
‘It’s a challenge and one we are up to taking on. It means a lot to me and everyone at the charity. The reason why we do it is to see the smiling faces of the children.’
The design is based on the Mamohato Center that will open in Lesotho for children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. Prince Charles was also consulted in the design process, being a keen gardener himself.
‘The whole point of the garden is a mini version of the centre we are opening up this year. The centre itself is a psycho-social cafe centre for children who are HIV-positive.’ the Prince finished.
This is the third entry Harry has entered, the first being a tribute to his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and last year’s also being for Sentebale, or ‘Forget me not’ in Sesotho, the language of Lesotho.
The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were just some of those to view the garden today, and another 165,000 visitors are expected to visit the show during its five day opening. The Countess of Wessex, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips also spent some time at the show today.
The Queen visits the RHS show each year, and was shown the garden by her grandson.
The designer of the garden, Matt Keightley, who worked on Help The Heroes’ entry last year, said:
‘It is such a privilege being part of the show… I’m hoping the Queen will like it — that would be the icing on the cake.’
Photo: Simon Perry @SPerryPeople
