Alan Titchmarsh revealed he once experienced a "tricky" interview with a royal, which led Princess Anne to offer a remark. The 76-year-old is well accustomed to interactions with members of the royal family, most notably King Charles, with whom he shares a common passion for gardening.
Photographed in each other's company on numerous occasions, Alan has commended the King for his dedication many times, especially regarding environmental matters. However, the gardener maintains such an effortless rapport wasn't replicated with Prince Philip.
Asked about his most challenging interview to date, the ITV star disclosed it was the late Prince, prior to his death in 2021. "I did the interview for his 90th birthday. He was tricky," he told Woman Magazine.
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"I wrote and thanked him afterwards, and he wrote back saying, 'Thank you. As you probably realised, being interviewed is not my favourite occupation'.
"The moment the interview finished at Windsor Castle, he said, 'That it? Come on'. Alan added: "I followed him, and he took me round without the camera and showed me what he'd done after the fire. It was completely different on a one-to-one."
Following the "tricky" encounter, Alan said Philip's sister-in-law Princess Anne shared some words of reassurance. He added: "Afterwards the Princess Royal said to me, 'It's not you. He won't tell us about his war'.
"He's never wanted to put himself in front of [others who had served]." This isn't the first instance Alan has been left underwhelmed by a royal encounter.
Upon being awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2000 by the late Queen Elizabeth II, he expressed that he was "slightly disappointed" by their conversation.
Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2014, he recalled: "When I got up to the Queen she asked me 'Are you busy?' I was slightly disappointed by the generality of the question, but I told her about Gardeners' World and Ground Force, which I was working on then.
"She chatted and then the hand came out for the handshake. We had been told when that happens you stop talking and go away." However, what transpired next took Alan by surprise.
He continued: "As I shook her hand she said, 'Well, you give a lot of ladies a lot of pleasure'."
Reflecting on the discussion he had with his long-term wife Alison afterwards, he added: "I said to my wife, 'You know I'd rather be buried than cremated.' She said 'What brought that on?'
"I told her that I wanted a headstone which said 'Alan Titchmarsh MBE 1949-whenever. He gave a lot of ladies a lot of pleasure – Elizabeth R'."
