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Yesterday (Tuesday April 21) would have been the late Queen Elizabeth’s 100th birthday. There are all sorts of things going on in London to mark the occasion, like a fashion exhibition showing some of Lizzie’s most iconic garbs at Buckingham Palace, a presentation of the final recommendations for the Queen Elizabeth Memorial at the British Museum and a big fancy reception with former patronages and centenarians who are also celebrating their birthday.
There’s also a gorgeous new memorial garden gearing up to open in Regent’s Park next week. The Queen Elizabeth II Garden will officially open to the public on Monday April 27.
You’ll be able to find garden in the middle of Regent’s Park, behind the Espresso Bar on the Broad Walk and just a stone’s throw from the Avenue Gardens. It sits on the former site of a plant nursery that was once used to grow shrubs and plants for the Royal Parks but was decommissioned in 2018. Planning permission for the new garden was granted back in 2024.
The landscape spans two acres and has been filled with new trees, wildflowers, hedgerows more than 5,000 square metres of climate-resilient plants. It also includes Lily of the valley, which was Lizzie’s favourite bloom and part of her coronation bouquet and a magnolia specially selected as it typically flowers around the same time as the late monarch’s birthday.
Beyond the plants, there’s a large pond with seating and a pergola, a tall lookout tower and a path that meanders through the whole thing. To support biodiversity, it features bat nesting boxes, roosts for swifts, and habitats to support hedgehogs. The garden was actually completed back in January and since then a wide range of wildlife has already been making the most of it, from bees to butterflies to a fox that reportedly visits almost every day.
Check out: This epic 150-mile walk reveals a hidden city – here’s why every Londoner should do it once.
Plus: 10 of the greatest National Trust sites near London (as chosen by the National Trust).
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