King all smiles as he meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. King all smiles as he meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show11 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleSean CoughlanRoyal correspondentPAKing Charles meets celebrities including Sir David Beckham at the flower showIt must be a strange job being King. One minute you're facing up to US President Donald Trump in the US Congress. The next you're being introduced to garden gnomes.

King Charles and Queen Camilla were at this year's Chelsea Flower Show, a strange and beautiful place. For only the second time, a ban on gnomes has been lifted this year by the Royal Horticultural Society, an opportunity that seemed to have been grasped by gardeners with both tiny ceramic hands. The King was in a gnome from home, when he was shown a row of them in a cottage inspired by his own Highgrove house in Gloucestershire.

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Sir David Beckham playing on the left wing of this ideal gnome exhibition line-upIt must have felt like a fever dream moment. When the King went into this rustic cottage, called the Curious Garden, waiting for him was Sir David Beckham and Alan Titchmarsh. On the shelf, also waiting for the royal arrival, there were gnomes of Sir David, Alan and King Charles.

Although to be fair to the famous footballer, the years haven't been kind to his gnome version, even if they've caught his current hair colour. PASir David Beckham and Alan Titchmarsh were all smiles when they met the KingAnd it seems as though no royal event is complete without the presence of the famous gardener Titchmarsh, who the King must see more often than his own bodyguard. For other celebrities, including Jonna Lumley, Bill Bailey and Sir Brian May, they found there's gnome business like show business.

PAThe King and Queen were given a preview of the flower show The flower show as ever has some remarkable creativity, including in its high-concept show gardens. The Campaign to Protect Rural England had a gorgeous carved wooden figure of Mother Nature, illustrating the theme of gardens at the edge of towns. There were other beautiful sculptures made from driftwood by James Doran-Wood.

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ReutersKing saw the garden of the Campaign to Protect Rural EnglandThe Tate Britain garden made a cultural splash with a water feature and a Barbara Hepworth sculpture. And the Eden Project had a "Bring Me Sunshine" garden which referenced Morecambe in Lancashire, and by extension the comedian Eric Morecambe. It needed footnotes as well as roots.

But the garden itself will be sustainable, as it will be relocated to Morecambe after its stint at the show. Other show gardens had worked so hard to look authentic and natural that they almost stopped looking like gardens. ReutersThere was a huge display of roses at the Chelsea Flower ShowThis is gardening on an epic scale, with vast stalls showing every type of flowers, interspersed with gardening equipment and pit-stops of champagne every few yards.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.