Prince Harry attempted to execute a very thoughtful gesture on the morning of his wedding with Meghan Markle in October 2018, but it didn’t go according to plan.
The Duchess of Sussex was pictured at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in her bateau neckline Givenchy wedding dress with her borrowed diamond tiara and a small bouquet of white flowers.
She had intended to have a more impressive selection of flowers thanks to a “really meaningful” gesture from her husband that he had planned months in advance at their home, Nottingham Cottage in Kensington Palace, but it was “ruined.”
“We have a very small garden here that we had been planting things in the Fall for and what was really special, I think, was that the morning of the wedding Harry went in and he picked some flowers to go into my bouquet, which was really beautiful and something that makes it sentimental and really meaningful,” Meghan said during the audio for the 2018 Windsor Castle exhibit ‘A Royal Wedding: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.’
“We didn’t have as many flowers in our little garden as we had hoped for because I think it snowed at Easter. That kind of ruined the whole thing!” Harry continued, before adding that he did manage to honour the memory of his late mother Princess Diana through their choice of flowers.
“They’re very much a bouquet of wildflowers, wildflower meadows and making sure that we had forget-me-nots in as it was one of my mother’s favourite flowers.
“The great thing is that the day after the bouquet ended up at Westminster Abbey on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as, again, very traditional rather than throwing it over your head, I think it was the perfect place for it to be laid at rest,” he continued.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex turned to florist Philippa Craddock for their beautiful blooms, which included the floral installations at St George’s Chapel and the centrepieces at their reception.
Philippa later described Harry and Meghan as “gorgeously thoughtful throughout” and revealed the hard work behind the finished design.
“The five internal archways were my favourite designs. The inspiration came from the vaulted ceilings and the architectural detail, with the aim of working in perfect harmony with the space and bringing the outside in, reflecting the surrounding parkland,” Philippa explained.
“The archways were huge, we used scaffolding and designed a complex understructure to ensure they were absolutely secure, without causing any damage to the beautiful stonework underneath.”
