Working for the royal family is a dream job for many people and the Queen's head gardener, Mark Lane, has been looking after the gardens at Buckingham Palace for a staggering 28 years. In a rare question-and-answer session on Instagram, Mark gave an insight into what it's like working for the monarch – and we can see why he's stayed in his job for so long! Having been asked: "What has kept you working for Buckingham Palace for so long," Mark answered: "It's a lovely environment to work in and there is always something that needs doing in the garden."
VIDEO: The Queen's gardener shares glimpse inside Buckingham Palace grounds
The Queen's gardener revealed how much he enjoys working at Buckingham Palace
Mark leads a team of gardeners at Buckingham Palace, and last week he took to Instagram to share photos of some of the beautiful flowers that are growing there currently. These included bluebells and wisteria, speckled camellia, and flowering cherries. There are many interesting features inside the garden, including two trees that were planted by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, as well as a lake and a tennis court. There are also 40 acres of perfectly-manicured lawns – four times the size of Wembley Stadium. The grounds provide a habitat for an array of wildlife and feature some unusual trees, including Himalayan Cedar and an Indian Bean Tree. The grounds of the palace are open to the public every summer as part of the Summer Opening at Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Queen's garden parties have been called off this year.
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Buckingham Palace's garden looks beautiful right now
The gardens featured on TV on ITV documentary, The Queen's Green Planet, which saw the 94-year-old give David Attenborough a tour of the grounds. In the footage, the monarch asked staff to make a change in the grounds after he made an amusing observation – that their sundial was positioned in the shade. The Blue Planet host joked about the sundial as he took a stroll through the palace gardens with the monarch, joking that it had been "neatly planted in the shade", prompting the Queen to ask her head gardener: "Hadn't we thought of that? It wasn't in the shade originally, I'm sure. Maybe we could move it."
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Currently, the Queen and Prince Philip have been away from Buckingham Palace, and have been isolating at Windsor Castle with a small selection of staff. The grounds at their Berkshire residence are just as spectacular and the royal enjoys nothing more than riding her horses there. Before the coronavirus pandemic, she would often be joined by her son Prince Edward and granddaughter Lady Louise Windsor, who live nearby at Bagshot Park.
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