RHS to run two new touring shows at Badminton and at the royal estate at Sandringham
The King will collaborate with a designer on the RHS Royal Legacy Garden at the Sandringham flower show.
The RHS will run two new touring shows in July, at Badminton, site of the famous horse trials in Gloucestershire, and at Norfolk’s royal estate at Sandringham. ‘These shows are set in some of the most iconic and historically rich landscapes that we have in this country, offering remarkable settings to really celebrate the best of British horticulture,’ says RHS director Clare Matterson.
The King will collaborate with Chelsea Gold medal-winning designer Catherine MacDonald on the RHS Royal Legacy Garden at the RHS Sandringham Flower Show (July 22–26), which will include many of his favourite plants and will use local materials. ‘We’ve already had some discussions about the design,’ says Catherine. ‘In terms of the planting, that’s going to be quite bold and colourful, and we’re probably going to try to champion rural and horticultural skills.’
Badminton has a long history of pioneering with plants, the 1st Duchess of Beaufort, Mary Somerset (1630–1715), having assembled a mass of flora from around the world at her Gloucestershire estate. To celebrate this illustrious past, the RHS Badminton Flower Show (July 8–12) will feature a special exhibition for the host venue. Also on the 34-acre site, the 75th anniversary of the BBC’s The Archers will be marked with a themed garden designed by multi-medalled designer Jo Thompson, who says: ‘Bridge Farm is a place that lives very vividly in people’s imaginations and the garden at RHS Badminton is about bringing that much-loved place to life — full of warmth, productivity and optimism.’
No shows will run in 2026 at Tatton Park, in Cheshire or Hampton Court in London, venues for the RHS touring shows last year.
Visit the RHS's website to buy tickets.
This feature originally appeared in the January 28, 2026, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Julie Harding is Country Life’s news and property editor. She is a former editor of Your Horse, Country Smallholding and Eventing, a sister title to Horse & Hound, which she ran for 11 years. Julie has a master’s degree in English and she grew up on a working Somerset dairy farm and in a Grade II*-listed farmhouse, both of which imbued her with a love of farming, the countryside and historic buildings. She returned to her Somerset roots 18 years ago after a stint in the ‘big smoke’ (ie, the south east) and she now keeps a raft of animals, which her long-suffering (and heroic) husband, Andrew, and four children, help to look after to varying degrees.