>The creation of the first Privy Garden began at Hampton Court Palace with Henry VIII. In 1529, the King began to establish Hampton Court as a showplace for English gardening. It took nearly eight years to establish the structure of the garden; but it was not until 1702, under the reign of William and Mary, that the garden reached its most magnificent state. The garden just had its 300th birthday in 2002!

>Privy or private gardens became popular at the royal palaces in the mid-sixteenth century as they provided the Sovereign with security and privacy away from their affairs of the state.

>The Hampton Court Palace Gardens were opened to the public in the 1840s by Queen Victoria.

>The gardens of Hampton Court Palace comprise 60 acres of formal gardens and 750 acres of royal parkland, tended by a team of 38 gardeners and specialists they recycle 95% of their green waste.

>200,000 flowering bulbs are planted in total throughout the formal gardens each year, 140,000 plants are grown in the nurseries each year and there are around 8,000 trees in the gardens and estate.