Alan Titchmarsh has been a regular on our TV screens for many years now and has inspired countless new gardeners to take up the trowel thanks to his down-to-earth approach to gardening on the likes of Ground Force, Gardeners' World and Love Your Garden.
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But did you know that he also has quite a few royal fans too?
In April of this year, shortly after the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh, the horticultural expert revealed that he had once received a letter from him in which he pointed out all the mistakes Alan had made in a book about royal gardeners.
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Speaking to Huw Edwards on the BBC, Alan recited from the letter which he referred to as one of his most "cherished" items in a heartwarming tribute to the late royal.
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The letter read: "On the chapter devoted to Elizabeth the Second, you go onto to say 'outdoor activities were very much more their scene, riding and horse racing for the Queen, shooting and carriage driving for the Duke.' As I am sure you appreciate, shooting does not go on all year round and I only took up carriage driving in 1973 after playing polo for twenty years!"
Alan explained: "He then lists everything he has done in the home park here, the avenues he's planted, the oaks he did and it just goes on."
Alan has met several members of the royal family
The Duke's letter concluded: "I don't expect you to do anything about this. But I thought it might interest you to know that active gardening still goes on in the Royal gardens."
Discussing the letter, Huw joked that Phillip "put you in your place, Alan!" However, the TV star revealed that he had not been offended by the contents of the letter but instead had appreciated that the Duke had even picked up the pen and written to him.
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Alan added that he had received the unexpected letter from Philip around a fortnight after he sent a copy of his 2003 book Royal Gardeners: The History of Britain's Royal Gardens to the Queen.
Philip is not the only royal that Alan has had communication with; between 1984 and 2014, he fronted the BBC's coverage of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, during which he regularly spoke to both the Queen and the Queen Mother, who visited most years before her death in 2001.
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