Plans for the new memorial garden in honour of Princess Diana were unveiled yesterday at Hampton Court Flower Show. In addition to being filled with the blooms with which she was always associated, the 57-acre rose garden will include a series of canals and pools decorated with friezes depicting scenes from the Princess of Wales’s life.
The project, which will be a key feature in the redeveloped Royal National Rose Garden in St Albans, Hertfordshire, will also include sections marking the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday. Work on the garden is due to start later this year.
“This will be the people’s garden for the People’s Princess, and will be a fitting and lasting tribute to England’s rose,” says director general of the National Rose Society, Ken Grapes. “It will be a place of tranquillity where people of all ages can remember Diana.”
In addition to the flowerbeds, the design also includes a 45ft-wide rock imported from China and 97ft-high golden spire. “The spire represents purity and hope, and the rock determination and strength of purpose – all of which, I think, in our minds were very much part of Diana,” says garden designer Professor David Stevens.
The £20-million project failed to win a lottery grant and will be paid for by foreign contributions and commercial sponsorship. Eleven types of rose with royal connections are also to be sold to help raise money. The gardens are due to open in 2003.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
