Garden party
ITV, 9pm
NOW here’s a crowd-pleasing combo if ever we saw one, as Her Majesty teams up with national treasure Sir David Attenborough.
But why are they touring the gardens of Buckingham Palace chatting about everything from climate change to conkers?
It’s all part of an ambitious legacy project – The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy – which aims to create a global network of protected forests, spanning the 52 countries of the Commonwealth. Quite a serious plan, then, but there’s humour here, like when the Queen explains she is often given new varieties of plants.
“I’ve been quite difficult to give presents to so they’ve said, ‘Oh, let’s give her a plant’.”
We’ll see Prince Harry planting trees in the Caribbean and Prince William and family in Canada.
Harry tells youngsters in St Lucia: “I think I’m closing in on my half century of trees planted, but the Queen is in the thousands.”
Angelina Jolie is also seen planting trees with her six children in the Namibian desert.
The programme provides a fascinating history lesson, as the Queen shows Sir David some plane trees planted by Victoria and Albert, and oaks in honour of her four children.
Their relaxed rapport is a joy, such as when he points out that the type of trees that will grow in the gardens in 50 years’ time may be very different, due to climate change.
“They might easily be, yes,” she replies. “I won’t be here though.”
Then the two 91-yearolds share a smile, and continue their stroll...