Garden Rescue stars Harry Rich and David Rich have always exuded confidence on the hit BBC show, but as it turns out, there was one royal meeting in particular that left them lost for words.
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Speaking to House Beautiful, the Rich Brothers previously opened up about their first-ever meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II, which occurred in 2013. After winning gold at the Chelsea Flower Show, the duo were surprised by Her Majesty, who entered their show garden as they were cobbling a wall.
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"All of a sudden, she came around the corner wearing pristine white gloves, and we had mud and dirt ingrained in our hands," said Harry. "We were trying frantically to wipe them clean on our trousers before we shook hands with her!"
Equally nervous about meeting the Queen, David added: "I'd rehearsed my words perfectly, but I was so nervous it all came out as a jumble. But the Queen was wonderful and really knowledgeable. We ended up talking about bumble bees, which she knows lots about."
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It's hardly surprising that the brothers were able to bond with the monarch over their shared love of bees, as she famously had four Italian honey bee hives situated at Buckingham Palace, specifically located on an island in the palace gardens.
The Rich Brothers first met Her Majesty in 2013 at the Chelsea Flower Show
In fact, thanks to the Queen's Royal Beekeeper, John Chapple, the Buckingham Palace bees have always produced enough honey for the entire estate, with the palace chefs using it to make honey madeleines, chocolate truffle filling and honey and cream sponges. All of these recipes were typically served at Her Majesty's garden parties in the summer.
The Queen had always had a keen interest in bees
Clearly an important part of Queen Elizabeth's life, after her sad passing in September, black ribbons were tied around the hives, which house thousands of bees. Royal Beekeeper John was also tasked with informing the bees of her death. Speaking to Mail Online, he said:
The royal was extremely knowledgeable about bees
"I'm at the hives now and it is traditional when someone dies that you go to the hives and say a little prayer and put a black ribbon on the hive - I drape the hives with black ribbon with a bow."
He continued: "The person who has died is the master or mistress of the hives, someone important in the family who dies and you don't get any more important than the Queen, do you? You knock on each hive and say, 'The mistress is dead, but don't you go. Your master will be a good master to you."
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