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Flowers from her Balmoral garden placed on Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin

The wreath of flowers placed on the coffin of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was made up of flowers cut from the garden of her beloved home of Balmoral.

The blooms were gathered at the Castle where Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8th 2022.

They were arranged in a traditional circular wreath and laid on the Royal Standard of Scotland which covered the oak coffin.

The flowers chosen were dahlias, phlox, white heather and pine fur as well as cuttings of one of Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite blooms. Amidst the petals were fragrant sweet peas, long a treasured flower for The Queen.

In the language of flowers, so beloved of Queen Victoria who made Balmoral into a royal home, sweet peas have a particularly poignant meaning. They can represent ”thank you for a lovely time” and ”goodbye.”

Dahlias represent kindness and commitment as well as steadfastness while phlox is generally taken to mean harmony and agreement. Heather is well known as a symbol of good luck while pine fir represents hope in adversity. But it, too, can be taken as ”goodbye’.

This pretty wreath of flowers will be the first of many placed on the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II during the days to come. Her Late Majesty’s funeral takes place on September 19th 2022.

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About author

Lydia Starbuck is Jubilee and Associate Editor at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra. Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024. June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.