GENIAL

gardener Alan Titchmarsh has found a new way to ingratiate himself with the royals. he’s signed up as a patron of the campaign to build a Commonwealth Conservatory at Kew Gardens to mark the Queen’s 100th birthday in 2026. Does Titch, 68, who conducted the saccharine interview with Prince Philip for his 90th and then a documentary about Buckingham Palace’s gardens, hope his MBE will be upgraded? he claims that when her Majesty presented him with the honour in 2000, she said: ‘You give a lot of ladies a lot of pleasure.’