Funeral flowers fit for a Queen
Last September, on the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral, Buckingham Palace issued a statement about the wreath that lay on top of her coffin.
Compostable, sustainable and beautiful. Farewell flowers created for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth ll incorporated flowers and foliage from gardens she’d loved in this wild and lovely, feminine, floral tribute.
“At His Majesty the King's request, the wreath contains flowers and foliage cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove House. This includes foliage chosen for its symbolism; rosemary for remembrance, myrtle the ancient symbol of happy marriage and cut from a plant that was grown from a sprig in Her Late Majesty's wedding bouquet in 1947, and English oak which symbolises the strength of love. Also included are scented pelargoniums, garden roses, autumnal hydrangeas, sedum, dahlias and scabious all in shades of gold, pink and deep burgundy with touches of white to reflect the Royal Standard on which it sits.
Again at His Majesty's request, the wreath is made in a totally sustainable way in a nest of English moss and oak branches and without the use of floral foam”.
The following day Gill @fieldhouseflowers mused in an Instagram post-
“Is this the wreath that launched a thousand changes?
Over half the people on the planet watched the late Queen's coffin borne through London yesterday and every eye was caught by the lovely wreath riding high alongside the sceptre, orb and crown.
It was not diminished by proximity to priceless jewels, indeed these dignified and natural garden flowers were the best companion possible for such an array.
The King commissioned the wreath and specified its sustainability, but it took a modest man well versed in the language of flowers to turn wishes into perfection and combine the majesty of a queen with the quiet dignity of a woman.
Can a real shift towards more natural and foam free farewell flowers start with one sublime wreath?
Can the world remember it when it's their turn to order those final flowers for a loved one, to look beyond the funeral directors standard catalogue?”
… Flowers fit for a queen without a doubt – but we believe that beautiful funeral flowers should be available to everyone who seeks them. Let’s break away from the stiff formality that has come to symbolize funerals in the public mind and let’s also do the planet a favour by embracing more natural styles made without plastic floral foam.
