Secret 'ROYAL Wedding' Nostalgia30 August 2025On July 17th in 2020 a secret royal wedding was held in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Not far from the ‘Royal Lodge’ . . . the home of the brides father the - Duke of York . . . . . . Princess Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in the ‘Royal Chapel of All Saints’, and the PHOTOGRAPHS were taken by BENJAMIN WHEELER. The Princess wore a dress and a tiara borrowed from her grandmother THE Queen . . .and Beatrice also had reason to be grateful to 'Queen Victoria' on more than one occasion ! THE DRESS Princess Beatrice’s wedding dress was originally worn by Queen Elizabeth II at a film premier in 1961. Of course the beautiful bridal gown was adjusted for the occasion and what a perfect choice it was for Princess Beatrice. The Norman Hartnell vintage ivory dress was made from Peau De Soie taffeta and was finished with ‘Duchess’ ivory satin and diamante. PUFF organza sleeves were added to the dress especially for Princess Beatrice. What about Princess Beatrice’s wedding flowers ? I hear you! Well tradition has it that 'Royal Wedding Flowers' are packed FULL of Symbolism. You can almost always guarantee that there will be MYRTLE in the Royal Bridal bouquet . . . from a plant descended from roots belonging to Queen Victoria apparently! Being the daughter of the Duke of York it was safe to say that the WHITE ROSE would be included. The white rose is the symbol of the’ House of York’ and consequently of YORKSHIRE as a whole and . . . interestingly, the white rose also stands for innocence and ‘SECRECY’. The FLORIST There is some confusion over which florist actually won the honour of creating the flowers for the wedding of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo, but it would appear that the BRIDAL FLOWERS were made by ‘favoured florist to the royals’ Martin Crossley, and the venue flowers supplied by ‘Dutch celebrity florist’ Rob Van Helden. The BRIDAL BOUQUET The bridal bouquet was soft and romantic complimenting Beatrice’s own colour tones perfectly in soft oyster pink. The gorgeous wedding bouquet handtied with hessian was just the right size and looked so good on the fitted bodice of her grandmother’s dress. So here we go, the flowers included in Princess Beatrices bouquet complete with their meanings are . . . . Scented, large headed O’HARA garden roses in soft shell pink . . . . meanings – perfect happiness, grace and joy. Ivory spray roses . . . meanings - innocence and purity Pink Astilbe stems . . . meaning – DEDICATION to a loved one! White Jasmine . . . meaning ‘Amiability’. Pink aromatic Wax Flower . . . meanings long lasting success and ‘Happy Wedding’. Sweet peas . . . signifying ‘Blissful Love’ Myrtle foliage . . . symbolising Love & Marriage The SHOWSTOPPING floral arch! This amazing arch had to be ‘seen to be believed’. . . like something out of a fairytale - and we can only assume, due to the secrecy of the whole affair, that it ‘lead the way’ for other magnificent floral displays set up for the royal event inside the wedding chapel and the wedding reception – oh to be a fly on the wall! The mechanics in place to support such a wonderful floral structure, and in common with London events . . . are a masterpiece in themselves and generally erected by another business specialising in this sort of ‘floral framework’! Rob Van Helden, florist to Elton John, designed and created the beauty featuring soft peach/pink Hydrangea, ivory roses, Jasmine and Wax Flower with a selection of foliages – and what a picture it made as Beatrice and Edoardo emerged from the Chapel after their ceremony, they must have been over the moon with it! The Queen Mary ‘Fringe’ TIARA from the Royal Collection Tradition dictates that the royal bride choses a tiara from the royal collection – Princess Beatrice’s wedding tiara was the ‘Queen Mary Fringe Tiara’, created for our ‘Queen Mary’ from a necklace given to her by Queen Victoria for her wedding to King George V in 1893. This tiara was the one worn by Queen Elizabeth II on her own wedding day and was also chosen by ‘Princess Anne’ for her wedding to Captain Mark Phillips in 1973. Coronavirus postponement! Beatrice and Edoardo’s wedding was originally planned for 29th May 2020 and was going to take place at the Chapel Royal at St. James’ Palace. . . they, like so many others had to change their plans. Speculation has the number of GUESTS at the wedding at less than 20. After the wedding, . . . in Royal tradition, a tired but still beautiful wedding bouquet was laid in Westminster Abbey - at the ‘Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’. This tradition started with the Queen Mother who laid her own wedding bouquet there in memory of her brother Fergus who died in 1915 at the ‘Battle of Loos’. CONGRATULATIONS Beatrice & Edoardo, with All Best Wishes for ‘Your Future Happiness!’ P.S. If you are thinking about flowers for your own wedding have some fun here!