Love Your Garden host Alan Titchmarsh regards his farmhouse in the picturesque Hampshire countryside around Alton as his primary home. Yet how much did viewers know of the blissful beachfront hideaway he has on an island and likes to retreat to as a second home?

He and wife Alison, whom he has been devoted to for half a century, regard their Isle of Wight coastal property as a "lovely escape". Alan has been visiting Cowes since childhood - and it's not difficult to see why. He shared his joy over the location being a second home in a 2021 interview, telling the Telegraph: "It's a better pace of life and it's so nice to be by the sea – that stretch of water and being cut off from the mainland gives you a sense of going overseas."

Cowes is world famous for its yachting opportunities, which are known to draw in members of the royal family, and there are connections to historical royal figures there too, with Queen Victoria's much loved Osborne House being a key landmark.

The monarch died there, in the country mansion said to be one of her favourite places on earth, over 100 years ago.

It has since gone into the care of English Heritage and is open to curious members of the public, who can enter the state rooms and even see the late Queen Victoria's private beach.

Meanwhile, like the royals of today, Alan has a passion for sailing and it's one of the things he loves to indulge in most during dreamy holidays shared with Alison.