CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW: Varieties of glitterati
by Belinda Edwards, The Daily Telegraph
May 19, 1998
Celebrities to the left of you, celebrities to the right of you. They all want to go to Chelsea, says Belinda Edwards
WHERE ELSE but the Chelsea Flower show would you find Germaine Greer, Posh Spice and Donald Sutherland side by side, bent double over the delphiniums? No upwardly mobile businessman, pop star, duke or debutante can afford to be anywhere else but the grounds of the Royal Hospital in the third week of May. For this is where the real social spadework of the Season begins - and smart tycoons and politicians know it.
Earlier yesterday, numberous celebrities, including Jane Asher, Karl Lagerfeld and Jeremy Irons launched the preview day of the annual event, founded in 1888.
The Chelsea Flower Show is considered the kickoff for England's summer social season. It's as much about being seen as seeds. Supermodels, rock stars, even the Archbishop of Canterbury come to get their egos stroked by having flowers named for them or to lend their names to garden products.
Actor Jeremy Irons was pushing sundials during press day, discussing their romantic appeal.
The Queen and other members of the Royal Family arrived later, no doubt observing that if Hello! magazine had its own garden then it would look a lot like the Chelsea Flower Show. Hardy perennials of the celebrity variety wilted in the midday sun as the world's press photographed them praising this flower and that shrub.
There were a few dazzling displays. Jeremy Irons revealed himself as a sundial expert. "It's a wonderful way of having something informative that doesn't need weeding or trimming," he said.