Through four centuries Britain's Royal Family has been responsible for creating superb gardens, many of which led the field in garden design at their time. From the ostentatious grandeur of Charles II’s Hampton Court and the exotic glamour of the Prince Regent's Brighton Pavilion, to the sombre seclusion of Queen Victoria's Windsor and the 'green' commitment expressed at Highgrove by Prince Charles today, the gardens reflect the changing pre-occupations of the monarchy. Above all, however, they reflect the personalities of those kings, queens, princes and princesses who have loved and been passionately involved with their gardens.\nIn this book Sir Roy Strong, one of Britain’s most popular historians, leads us through magnificent royal gates to show us stately avenues, sumptuous borders, acres of flower-filled conservatories, fountains, follies and also secret corners beyond. The history that emerges is full of surprises: who would suspect that Kensington Gardens began as one of the great formal gardens of Stuart England? Or that part of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew was once an avant garde Georgian garden, created to make a sophisticated political statement? Or that George VI and Queen Elizabeth made a starkly modernist garden at Royal Lodge in the 1930s? We discover what some of our most famous public spaces - such as St James’s Park-were like when they were private royal gardens, and of course Sir Roy takes us into the private royal gardens of today: Sandringham, Windsor and Buckingham Palace, the Queen Mother's gardens at Royal Lodge, Birkhall and the Castle of Mey, and the Prince of Wales’s idyllic garden at Highgrove.\nThe visual material is as rich and varied as the gardens; as well as Andrew Lawson’s evocative photographs taken through every season, there are prints, paintings and original designs, most of which come from the Royal Family's private archives.\nSir Roy Strong’s book is a wonderful testament to the glories of Britain's royal gardens. It will not only inform and delight, it will bring lasting pleasure to anyone interested in English history, garden history or great gardens today.