In Full Swing

Inspired by the Duchess of Cambridge’s Chelsea Flower Show garden, Lynda Hallinan gets into the swing of things.

- Lynda Hallinan

I really don’t envy the life of a royal wife and mother. If it’s not bad enough that your every fashion faux pas and family tiff is gleefully pounced upon by the paparazzi (not to mention the public), just imagine how hard it is to organise a decent playdate for your kids.

With Prince George literally expected to be the King of the Castle, and Princess Charlotte a shoe-in for the role of Elsa in any school production of Frozen, it must be impossible for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to keep their children’s regal feet on the ground.

Perhaps that explains why, when Kate collaborated with Davies White Landscape Architects to create a Back to Nature garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in London this year, her children made an immediate beeline for the giant ball-of-string swing.

“I’ve got such fond memories, of being in the garden and being outside, from my own childhood and I’m sharing that with my own children,” the Duchess told reporters as Prince William showed little Prince Louis the ropes.