A WORLD famous Hampshire garden has appointed a Royal as its new president.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall takes the role at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens at Ampfield near Romsey.

The Duchess of Cornwall visited the 180-acre site in 2013 to officially open the Centenary Border laid out to mark the 60th anniversary of the gardens created by the globe-trotting plantsman Sir Harold Hillier in 1953.

Sir Harold who died in January 1985 handed over his beloved collection of more than 42,000 plants at the Hillier Arboretum to Hampshire County Council in 1977.

He collected many plants and seeds during the 1950s from around the world including North and South America, Japan, Australasia and brought them back to Hampshire, where he got them to grow into specimen trees and shrubs and the public can now see the English plantsman's legacy at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens -which attracts around 170,000 visitors annually.

The gardens are a riot of colour year round with specimen magnolias trees, azaleas and camellias in bloom in the spring along with daffodils and throughout the summer various eye-catching hydrangeas and herbaceous borders in full colour.

And in the autumn and winter months visitors flock to the garden to see the leaves on trees and shrubs change colour and also winter flowering shrubs and bulbs.

Sir Harold's son Robert Hillier OBE, who is now head of his late father’s award-winning Hillier Nurseries business, said: "I am absolutely delighted that HRH The Duchess of Cornwall has agreed to accept the position of President of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens.

"This is a great royal tribute to my father's achievements and to a place that has become very special to a great many people.”

The gardens contain more than a dozen national plant collections including 12,000 different species and cultivars including more than 400 champion trees - the largest of their species in the British Isles.

Hampshire's leader Roy Perry also welcomed the news that the Duchess of Cornwall has agreed to become Sir Harold Hillier Gardens president and will work alongside its patrons Lord Sainsbury and Roy Lancaster who is a former curator at the Jermyns Lane site.

Councillor Perry said: “We are very honoured and delighted to have the Duchess of Cornwall as the President of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, which is a garden of enormous historic and scientific importance, and a very popular attraction for families across Hampshire and beyond.”

Mr Perry added: "Sir Harold Hillier Gardens are world-famous, holding one of the largest collections of hardy trees and shrubs in the world, and are also renowned for a significant collection of rare plants.

"We are very fortunate in Hampshire to have a great many beautiful gardens and outdoor attractions, but Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, which is a charity trust, is definitely one of the county’s greatest jewels.”