The King and Queen were delighted to lead legions of celebrity garden enthusiasts at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

The Queen stops to smell the roses; and, with the King (above right), wishes a belated happy birthday to David Beckham, who wears in his buttonhole a pink and white rose named in honour of the monarch

There were some sweet – and sweet-scented – reunions at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Not only did the King and Queen catch up with David Beckham on his first visit to the annual floral spectacular, but Monty Don’s dog Ned was reunited with his mother and sister, Mabel and Isla, both owned by the Princess of Wales’s brother James Middleton.

As the sun shone on London’s SW3, David, wearing a new fuchsia and white rose named in honour of the monarch in his buttonhole, agreed with the Queen that the bloom was “so beautiful” as they caught up outside the Highgrove stand.

The royal couple were greeted by the former footballer as well as gardening guru Sir Alan Titchmarsh towards the end of their annual visit to the show, with David telling the Queen: “Your Majesty, it’s so nice to see you.”

As she gestured at his buttonhole, he said: “Beautiful, so beautiful; congratulations.”

David, who celebrated his 50th birthday at the beginning of May, appeared to thank the King for something, after the monarch asked: “You got it, didn’t you?” He replied: “It was incredible, thank you; it was very kind.”