Former The Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry has revealed the poignant reason why her garden means more to her than most. A lover of growing much of what she eats, the chef said she also embraces her outdoor space to remember her late son William.

Mary and her husband Paul Hunnings lost their son in a car accident in 1989 when he was just 19 years old. Reflecting on his tragic death, she said: "When we lost William, we were very much in the garden, planning, planting and lovely friends gave us plants, which I brought with me in memory, and I still look at them and think of the happy times we had with him."

The 90-year-old also revealed she has created a flower bed dedicated to her son, featuring blooms including a white Christmas rose (Helleborus niger). "People gave us hellebores and I’ve made a hellebore bed and added to it," she added, according to Great British Life.

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"Just when you’re going by, you remember. We’ve nothing but wonderful memories of William and it’s nice to be reminded of him."

As part of her 2013 BBC documentary, The Mary Berry Story, the national treasure spoke of her personal grief at losing William so young.

Recalling the weekend she was told of his death, she said: "It was a glorious January day and it was sort of 1 o’clock and he wasn't home. The doorbell rang and there was a policeman there, and immediately then I knew why.

"And he said, 'There’s been an accident and I’m sorry to say your son is dead'." She added of the moment she saw him: "He just looked so beautiful and so lovely, his little cold face and it was nice to say farewell."

More recently, Mary reflected on William’s death as part of her 90th birthday celebrations last year. Speaking to Vogue Magazine, she said: "It’s absolutely amazing in my 90th year to think that William died all that time ago. If he walked in that door over there, I would say, 'Where have you been?’ It wouldn’t surprise me at all'.

"You know we were so lucky to have him," she continued. The chef credits "the great outdoors" and staying busy as two of the ways she's coped with grief.

Additionally, she said she is "very fortunate" to have two other children, Thomas and Annabel, and five grandchildren who bring joy to her and her husband's lives.

Meanwhile, The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer returns to screens this evening for a brand new series.

In a returning comedians special, reigning star baker Joe Wilkinson, Roisin Conaty, Rose Matafeo, Judi Love, Tom Davis and Jon Richardson enter the tent hoping to impress judges Paul Hollywood and Cherish Finden.

The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer airs tonight at 7.40m on Channel 4.