Elizabeth II in a golf cart at the Chelsea Flower Show, with the Royal Family

The Queen Isabel II has more than one trick up his sleeve. Just because she’s having trouble walking right now doesn’t mean she’s going to miss the Chelsea Flower Show. So she found a solution. Get in a golf cart. It is thus as original as it is functional that it walked, this Monday, May 23, 2022, through its corridors, meeting there with the organizers and exhibitors. Very smiling, wearing a pink coat over a white dress with flowers and no hat, the monarch seemed delighted to be there, especially since this 2022 vintage celebrates 70 years of her reign with several creations paying tribute to her. Like this floral portrait, by florist Simon Lycett, with 70 terracotta pots planted with lily of the valley, one of his favorite flowers that was in her coronation bouquet.

Originating in 1913 and organized by the Royal Horticultural Society -of which Queen Elizabeth II is godmother-, this horticultural exhibition invests every year for five days in May the grounds of the Royal Hospital of Chelsea in the London district of the same name. Except in 2020 where it was only virtual due to the Covid-19 pandemic and in 2021 where, if it held up well, it was postponed to September.

It is tradition that every year, before its official opening, the British family visits. The sovereign was not the only one to discover this edition in preview. His granddaughter the princess Beatrice of York , accompanied by her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, also took advantage of this scoop, as did her youngest son, Prince Edward, who was accompanied by his wife, Countess Sofia of Wessex. Several of her cousins ​​were also present: Princess Alexandra of Kent, Duke Edward of Kent, Princess Michael of Kent, as well as Duke Richard of Gloucester and his wife, Duchess Bridget.

To see again in images : Elizabeth II, surprise appearance in London to inaugurate her subway line