Beckham and Mary Berry paint gnomes for RHS school gardening campaign
David Beckham and Mary Berry helped turn Chelsea’s once-banned gnomes into a school fundraising draw, as the show opened its doors to a broader, more playful audience.
Celebrity-painted gnomes took centre stage at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show as David Beckham and Dame Mary Berry joined a long list of famous names helping raise money for school gardening. The Royal Horticultural Society lifted its ban on gnomes for only the second time in the show’s history, putting the ornaments back into one of Britain’s most exclusive horticultural settings and turning a joke object into a serious fundraising device.
The online auction for the gnomes ran from Friday 15 May to Sunday 24 May, with bidding opening at midnight on Thursday 14 May and closing at 7pm on Sunday 24 May. Money from the sale will support the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, which the society says helps pupils learn through gardening while building wellbeing, skills and environmental awareness. By Monday morning, Sir Brian May’s gnome, Billy Bad-Axe, had already drawn a £650 bid.
The move carried a clear cultural signal. Gnomes were first banned from RHS Chelsea exhibits in 1927 under rules that said no statuary or other sundries could be displayed in the tents, and the last time the ban was lifted was in 2013, for the centenary show. This year’s revival gave the event a more accessible tone, with the gnomes displayed alongside The RHS and The King’s Foundation Curious Garden, a space designed to encourage curiosity and fun in gardening and shaped in part by a Highgrove tradition of a gnome in the Stumpery at King Charles III’s Gloucestershire residence.
The roster of decorators reflected that wider shift in taste. On the day the show opened to royals and celebrities, Sir Brian May, Bill Bailey, Alan Titchmarsh and Dame Floella Benjamin were among those showing off their gnomes, while Cate Blanchett, Tom Allen, Dame Joanna Lumley, Kelly Hoppen and Frances Tophill also contributed. Clare Matterson, the RHS director general, said the auction would support thousands of children and help them discover the joy and benefits of gardening, adding that school gardening builds resilience and confidence.
The timing underlined the event’s pull. The 2026 Chelsea Flower Show sold out before opening to the public, the first pre-opening sell-out since before the Covid-19 pandemic. After the 2020 show was cancelled and the event moved to an autumn slot in 2021, Chelsea’s return to full demand, and to painted gnomes, suggested a rarified institution widening its frame without losing its prestige.
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