白金汉宫7

But years later, one king had different ideas for the park.

James I didn't cut the finest of figures,

yet he was fond of the finest of clothes,

especially the best silk.

Always short of cash,

James realised that silk,

a great luxury of the day,

might be an excellent way to make some serious money.

On the land that is now the gardens of Buckingham Palace,

James decided to create a homespun English silk industry

with the help of a particular tree, the mulberry.

In 1608, James I had dozens of mulberry trees planted here 1608

and introduced these Silkworms.

And the idea was to harvest the silkworms' thread from the cocoon

and use it to spin silk.

Trouble is, he chose the wrong kind of mulberry tree.

This, the black mulberry.

And the silkworms just weren't interested.