The Queen's Bouquet: A Royal Mystery

The Queen's wedding bouquet mysteriously disappeared on her wedding day in 1947. The bouquet, designed and created by Martin Longman of Longman's florist in London, was delivered personally to Buckingham Palace, but it went missing sometime between the newlyweds' return to the palace and the wedding breakfast. The disappearance of the bouquet, which was made from three types of orchids and myrtle, has captivated and amused royal biographers for years. A replica was made, and the royal couple recreated some wedding photos, but the original bouquet was never found.

The Queen's wedding bouquet disappeared

The story of the Queen's missing wedding bouquet has captivated and amused royal biographers for years. On her wedding day in November 1947, Princess Elizabeth's hands were empty as she posed for the official wedding photographs, with no sign of the bouquet she had carried into Westminster Abbey. The disappearance of the bouquet was just one of several misfortunes that befell the young princess on that cold day, which also included a broken tiara and pearls left at the wrong palace.

The bouquet, designed and created by the late Martin Longman of Longman's florist in London, was personally delivered to Buckingham Palace on the morning of the wedding. However, sometime between the newlyweds' return to the palace and the wedding breakfast, it went missing and was never found. The mystery of its disappearance has never been solved, but it is believed that an over-zealous footman may have put it in a cold cupboard and forgotten about it.

To rectify the situation, a week later, Longman was asked to create an identical bouquet so that the royal couple could recreate some of the wedding day moments in front of the camera. This time, the Princess firmly held the replica bouquet in her hands. The incident also set a precedent for future royal weddings, with florists always creating a backup bouquet just in case.

The original bouquet was a spectacular all-white, free-flowing arrangement featuring three types of exotic-looking orchids: cattleya, cypripedium, and odontoglossum, all British-grown, and a sprig of myrtle, which symbolises good luck and love in marriage. The myrtle was traditionally cut from a bush at Osborne House, Queen Victoria's residence on the Isle of Wight, and has been included in the bouquets of subsequent royal brides.

Despite the mishap, the Queen's wedding bouquet captured the imagination of brides-to-be across the nation, especially given the backdrop of post-war austerity when small and modest bouquets were the norm. The incident and the iconic style of the bouquet continue to fascinate and inspire, leaving a lasting legacy in the world of wedding flowers.

It was designed and created by Martin Longman

The Queen's wedding bouquet was designed and created by the late Martin Longman of Longman's florist in London, a long-standing member of the Interflora delivery network. Longman's father, founder of the florist, made the bouquet overnight in his shop on Ludgate Hill and delivered it personally to the-then-Princess Elizabeth's apartment at Buckingham Palace on the morning of November 20, 1947.

The bouquet was a free-flowing, all-white style, chosen from five designs submitted by Longman. It was described as "a modern type", made up of three kinds of British-grown orchids: cattleya, odontoglossum and cypripedium, to which was added a sprig of myrtle from a bush at Osborne House, Queen Victoria's house on the Isle of Wight. The myrtle was grown from a piece of myrtle in the wedding bouquet of Princess Victoria, Queen Victoria's eldest daughter.

Martin Longman was intensely proud of the bouquet, which was the pinnacle of his career. He went on to create the Coronation bouquet and the wedding bouquets for Princess Margaret and the Duchess of Kent.

The bouquet was never found

The disappearance of Queen Elizabeth II's wedding bouquet has captivated and amused royal biographers for years. The bouquet, designed and created by Martin Longman of Longman's florist in London, was delivered personally to the Queen on the morning of her wedding, 20 November 1947. However, sometime between the newlyweds' return to Buckingham Palace and the wedding breakfast, the bouquet was misplaced and never found.

The mystery of the missing bouquet is all the more intriguing given the other misfortunes that befell the young Princess Elizabeth on her wedding day, including a broken tiara and pearls left at the wrong palace. The disappearance of the bouquet left the Queen empty-handed for her wedding photos, with her hands clasped together in official portraits.

According to David Longman, son of Martin Longman, the bouquet was never found. A week after the wedding, Martin Longman was asked to create an identical bouquet so that the royal couple could recreate some of the wedding day moments in front of the camera. The replica bouquet can be seen in the Princess's hands in some photographs.

The disappearance of the original bouquet remains a mystery, and it is unclear what may have happened to it. Despite the mishap, the style and elegance of the Queen's wedding bouquet captured the imagination of brides-to-be across the nation, with its all-white, free-flowing design featuring three types of exotic orchids and myrtle, symbolising good luck and love in marriage.

A replica was made for photographs

The Queen's wedding bouquet went missing on her wedding day in 1947. The bouquet was designed and delivered to Buckingham Palace by Martin Longman of Longman's florist in London. However, it was misplaced sometime between the newlyweds' return to the palace and the wedding breakfast. This left the Queen empty-handed for her wedding photos.

To rectify this, a replica was made for photographs. During their honeymoon, the couple put their wedding clothes back on and posed for their individual pictures again, with a replica of the original bouquet. This meant they could look back at their wedding photos and see both group and solo poses, all featuring the floral bouquet.

The replica was also made by Longman's florist. The free-flowing, all-white bouquet was made up of three kinds of British-grown orchids: cattleya, odontoglossum, and cypripedium, to which was added a sprig of myrtle from a bush at Osborne House, Queen Victoria's house on the Isle of Wight.

The myrtle symbolises good luck and love in marriage, and it is a tradition for all royal brides to carry a sprig in their wedding bouquet. This tradition was started by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840.

The bouquet included myrtle, a symbol of good luck and love

The myrtle flower, or Myrtus communis, is a symbol of good luck, love, and marriage. The myrtle tree and its flowers are highly regarded in many cultures, and are steeped in symbolism, myths, and history.

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, visited the island of Cytheraea and, finding herself naked, hid behind a myrtle tree. From that day on, the myrtle tree was sacred to Aphrodite, lending the flower the symbol of partnership and love.

In addition, myrtle flowers were often used as wedding decorations and gifted to brides because they were believed to bring good luck to newlyweds. They were also placed on pathways and sometimes on the heads of brides for luck. The myrtle is also said to symbolise marital fidelity, innocence, purity, prosperity, and chastity.

The tradition of including myrtle in royal wedding bouquets stems from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's wedding in 1840. The Queen carried myrtle, known as the herb of love, at her nuptials, and subsequently planted a myrtle shrub in her garden at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Since then, every British royal bride has carried a bouquet containing a sprig plucked from the same shrub.

The myrtle in Queen Elizabeth's wedding bouquet came from the same plant that Queen Victoria had planted, and she and Prince Philip remained married for nearly 74 years until his death in 2021.

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