Duke unimpressed by gardening ‘guru’

The idea of a "celebrity gardener" is unlikely to impress the Duke of Edinburgh – a red rag to a bull, some might say - and so it was at the Chelsea Flower Show yesterday when he encountered the Australian "gardening guru" and former stripper Jamie Durie. The altercation between the two men came when Prince Phillip and the Queen were led to his gold medal-winning display. The Duke complimented Durie on his success and remarked: "I like your tree fern."

Durie, in a know-it-all way, responded: "Actually it's not a tree fern. It's a member of the Cycad family. It's a Macrozamia moorei…" The Duke, clearly used to a little more respect from his own gardening staff, simply walked off muttering: "I didn't want a bloody lecture" as Durie continued to witter on about his plants.

After the encounter, Durie said: "It was my first experience of Prince Philip. I was quite shocked. I so didn't want to offend him. Maybe he was a bit tired, I don't know. I thought, "Well, you did ask". I was trying to be as courteous as I could and give him the right information."

He should feel lucky that the Duke even shook his hand. On one trip to Durie's native Australia, Philip was asked to stroke a Koala bear. He replied: "Oh no, I might catch some ghastly disease." ·