News
TRH visit the Dig for Victory allotment in St James's Park on The Duchess's birthday
17th July 2008
The Duchess of Cornwall celebrated her birthday with The Prince of Wales today during a visit to an allotment in St James’s Park, London. Click here to watch a video of the day on The Royal Channel on YouTube.
Their Royal Highnesses visited the Dig For Victory allotment at the royal park, which is designed to show the advantages of growing your own vegetables to visitors.
The Dig for Victory allotment is a partnership between The Royal Parks and the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms.
The allotment has two growing areas: a modern area with plants that are grown today, and a war-time vegetable patch, that grows the types of plants grown during the Second World War such as cabbages and tomatoes.
Their Royal Highnesses, who are both keen gardeners, toured the allotment and met local schoolchildren who come to learn about how things grow, and staff and volunteers.
On their tour they were presented with an enormous Durham Early cabbage by apprentice gardener Tom Clark.
They also met young people who had been helped by a form of The Prince’s Trust ‘Get Into’ initiative.
The scheme, run in partnership with the Royal Parks, encourages unemployed young people to 'Get Into' parks and gardens for a week-long course to develop skills and boost their self-confidence.
Their Royal Highnesses also met two working shire horses used by the Royal Parks and chatted to their handlers.
To mark The Duchess’s special day, she was presented with a basket of organic vegetables grown at the allotment, an orchid grown at the Hyde Park nurseries, and a birthday cake made from carrots also grown in the allotment.
The Duchess, who cut the cake with the garden trowel provided said: "Thank you very, very much. We'll have a real feast."
Schoolchildren from St Vincent de Paul, Westminster, Hanover Primary, St Saviours, Maida Vale and Belhus Chase Humanities College sang Happy Birthday to The Duchess before Their Royal Highnesses left the park.
Click here to watch a video of the day on The Royal Channel on YouTube.