William and Kate and Harry and Meghan have fuelled months-long talk of a rift after engaging in what looks increasingly like a game of one-upmanship. There was a prime example yesterday when the Cambridges took their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis to see Kate’s new garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. After the visit, they released charming pictures of the children enjoying Kate’s creation at the show, of which she is intensely proud. Just hours before the event, new parents Harry and Meghan celebrated their first wedding anniversary by publishing a stunning collection of previously unseen behind-the-scenes photographs from their big day last year.

“It was a case of anything you can do, we can do better,” one seasoned royal watcher observed yesterday.

Both couples produced a treasure trove of memorabilia for royal enthusiasts but after a spate of similar publicity clashes some aides have expressed concern that the lack of coordination is diluting some of the work of the Royal Family.

“Our diary planning could be better,” one source said.

At Chelsea, George, five, Charlotte, four, and one-year-old Louis – seen walking for the first time – played in the woodland garden, which their mother has designed in an effort to inspire parents and grandparents to help get the UK’s children back out in the fresh air. 

It has a waterfall, a rope swing, a hollow log to play in, a den with a bow and arrow set and a nine tonne tree house that needed a police escort when it was transported up to London from Bristol.

The pictures, taken by one of the family’s favourite photographers, Matt Porteous, the man who photographed Prince Louis’s christening and Prince George’s third birthday, show the children making the most of it.

Earlier, Harry and Meghan marked their first wedding anniversary with a photo montage of 14 pictures including behind-the-scenes images from their wedding at Windsor on May 19 last year.

The couple, who welcomed their first son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, on May 6, accompanied the photos with the song This Little Light Of Mine which they chose for their recessional on their wedding day. 

They feature a series of black and white images by Chris Allerton and include one that depicts Harry thumbing a lift and another where Meghan is holding hands with her mother Doria Ragland.

Another picture of the couple sharing a kiss on the steps, was taken by Press Association photographer Danny Lawson, and has been seen before.

Aides said there was little they could do about their wedding anniversary clashing with the Cambridges at the flower show but courtiers conceded there had been times when both couples had overshadowed the other’s work.

They insisted the Cambridges and Sussexes, who split their household earlier this year, would always draw attention to their favoured causes.

But a bigger concern, according to one source, is that efforts to promote Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall’s work risks losing out to the younger members of the Royal Family.

Palace officials say they hold regular planning meetings but there will always be diary clashes.

At the same time, however, sources have acknowledged that there have been days in the past few weeks when the left hand did not know what the right hand was doing.

On the day last week when Prince William was launching a campaign to use football to persuade men to speak about their emotions, clips of Meghan’s friends giving interviews to a US documentary about how they felt she had been treated unfairly in Britain started to appear.

On another day William and Kate launched Britain’s first round-the-clock national text messaging helpline for people in emotional crisis but, even though it was a project supported by Harry and Meghan, the Duke of Sussex was in The Hague, taking publicity away from the launch.

The Firm faces a period of readjustment as Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, and Kensington Palace are joined effectively by a fourth household, that of Harry and Meghan, although officially it still comes under the control of the Queen’s private office.

William and Kate last night took their children to play in the Back to Nature garden that the Duchess has designed to highlight her mission to get Britain’s children outdoors and give them the best possible start in life.

Over the past months, George, Charlotte and Louis have helped their mother gather moss, leaves and twigs to help decorate the garden and make the den.

In an interview with television gardener Monty Don to be screened on BBC One tonight, Kate, 37, said: “I really feel that nature and being interactive outdoors has huge benefits on our physical and mental wellbeing, particularly for young children.

“I really hope that this woodland that we have created really inspires families, kids and communities to get outside, enjoy nature and the outdoors, and spend quality time together.”

Kate, who loves gardening and spending time outdoors with her children, wants to persuade parents and grandparents to help get the UK’s children back out in the fresh air and give them the best possible start in life.

Experts have warned her that active play is an essential part of developing a healthy and happy child but researchers have found three-quarters of UK children now spend less time outside than prison inmates.

They have blamed parents’ fears about their children’s safety from strangers, traffic or accidents, lack of green spaces, and rival attractions on phone and computer screens.

One survey published three years ago found that one in five children did not play outside at all on an average day. UN guidelines for prisoners stipulate they should receive “at least one hour of suitable exercise in the open air daily”

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