How Princess Beatrice's Wedding Echoed Meghan and Kate's

published 22 July 2020

By now, unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know that Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi got married on Friday in a private wedding ceremony. The pair were initially supposed to wed on May 29, in a massive ceremony at Chapel Royal in London's St. James' Palace in front of 150 guests, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, they were forced to rethink their entire wedding.

Instead of the big affair, fewer than 20 people were invited to the nuptials held at All Saints Chapel in Windsor Great Park. But that didn't stop the couple from having the Pinterest-board worthy wedding of my dreams. The bride borrowed her dress and crown from her grandmother, the Queen, for the secret garden-themed ceremony. Princess Beatrice stuck to another family tradition, seen in past royal weddings, by including sprigs of myrtle in her bouquet.

royal weddings — The royal flower tradition has been around since the 1800s.

According to Express, her bouquet featured trailing jasmine, light pink and cream sweet peas, royal porcelain ivory spray roses, pink O'Hara garden roses, pink waxflower, baby pink astilbe and, in keeping with royal tradition, and of course: myrtle.

The tradition goes back to 1845, when Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha's grandmother gave Queen Victoria a sprig of myrtle when visiting her in-laws. She later planted the myrtle at her home on the Isle of Wight, and when her daughter, Princess Victoria, got married in 1858, she carried a sprig of myrtle from the plant in her bouquet and started a royal tradition.

Since then, it's been featured in royal bouquets from past royal weddings like the Queen's, Kate Middleton's, and Meghan Markle's. Myrtle, according to the royal website, represents love, fertility, and innocence. Even today, the plant continues to be grown at Queen Victoria's holiday home on the Isle of Wight.

Uh, how cute is that? Talk about the ultimate family tradition!

Bianca Rodriguez is the Audience Development Manager at Future, covering fashion, beauty, and more for Marie Claire, Who What Wear US and Who What Wear UK. In addition to spearheading SEO content across brands—whether writing about wardrobe must-haves or strategizing how to make eye-catching content—she is also an avid reader with a deep love and knowledge for books of all genres. More often than not, you can find her lounging with a good book on the weekend.