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Prince William and Prince Harry have unveiled a statue of their late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in The Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace.
The beautiful walled garden, which was first designed and constructed in 1908, was chosen at the permanent home for the statue because it was a favourite place of Princess Diana.
William, 39, and Harry, 36, beamed as they walked side-by-side on Thursday 1 July for the unveiling of the statue, designed by world famous sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley, on what would have been her 60th birthday.
In a heartfelt tribute to his mother, Prince Harry also chose The Sunken Garden to announce his engagement to Meghan Markle in November 2017.
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The newly-engaged pair posed for photographs on the steps leading into the garden, which was modelled on the Pond Garden at Hampton Court Palace, with Meghan revealing her glistening ring.
It comes as Graham Dillamore, who manages the gardens and estates at the royal London residence, revealed on Channel 5's Kensington Palace: Behind Closed Doors, that Harry and William played in the garden as children.
Graham revealed that the two young royals would cheekily “terrorise” the staff in the garden, adding: “The two boys were here, very little at that time, they would come out and terrorise us in the garden or throw stones in the pond."
The expert gardener also described how he met Diana, adding: “I will always remember meeting Princess Diana in the gardens here.
“She always popped by, she would sometimes be on her jog. She even tried rollerblading once but it didn't work too well.”
Graham also described how it was “fantastic” that Harry and Meghan chose the stunning garden as the place to announce their engagement to the world after staff remember him “feeding fish” or “throwing stones” in the garden as a young child.
“Having seen Harry, little toddler tearaway, and then here he was with his new bride-to-be, was a very special moment.
“We had a lot of pressure on us to have the garden looking great but it was fantastic that they chose The Sunken Garden as a location to make that announcement and have all their press photographs.”
The garden was re-designed ahead of the statue unveiling and work began in October 2019 with five gardeners spending a staggering 1,000 hours on the mass planting of Diana’s favourite blooms.
Garden designer Pip Morrison devised the layout and planting scheme and described the task as a “very special project” to be part of.
The garden features 4,000 individual flowers, including 200 roses, 500 lavenders 300 tulips 50 sweet peas, 100 dahlias and 100 of Diana’s beloved forget-me-nots.
It features a “simplified layout of deeper flower borders and a more generous lawn around the pool to create a calmer and more reflective setting for the statue,” according to Kensington Palace.
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