The Importiance Of Being Myrtle

Myrtle Myrtus Communis
A sprig of wonderfully fragrant myrtle (known as the "herb of love") -- with its star-like flowers, creamy-white petals, and dark green leaves.

In The UK
Following her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840, Victoria planted the sprig of myrtle from her bouquet in her garden.
Since that time, all royal brides in Queen Victoria's family, including Queen Elizabeth II and Diana, Princess of Wales, have carried a sprig cut from Victoria's myrtle tree to the altar on their wedding day.
In Wales, brides once gave a sprig of myrtle to each bridesmaid.

In Other Cultures
Although Agrippa ascribes it to the Moon, myrtle has long been associated with Venus and love magick.
Aphrodite is often shown wearing a myrtle-leaf wreath in her hair, and during the Roman festival of Venus Verticordia (Venus the Heart-Turner)
On April 1, women bathed in water scented with myrtle and wore myrtle wreaths (the picture below shows a gold myrtle wreath from the time of ancient Greece).
In Eastern Europe, the wreaths held over the heads of a couple being married were originally made of myrtle (now gold crowns are used instead),
In the Appalachian Mountains, throwing this magick herb into a fire was believed to make the face of one's future mate appear in the smoke.
In England, folk believed that myrtle wouldn't grow if it was not planted by a woman.

Inspiration... British Royal Wedding Bouquets

Queen Victoria carried snowdrops Prince Albert's favorite flower

Queen Mary Orange blossom , a rose called 'House of York' white orchids,

lilies of the valley and a white carnation called 'The Bride'.

Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mother Roses , lilies-of-the-valley with a white rose and heather

Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent Liles

Queen Elizabeth II Three kinds of orchids: cattleya, odontoglossum and cypripedium and a sprig of myrtle

Princess Margaret white orchids and stephanotis

Princess Alexandra freesias, narcissi, stephanoitis and lilies-of-the-valley

Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester white and cream summer flowers

Princess Anne, Princess Royal white roses, lilies of the valley and stephanotis myrtle grown on the Isle of Wight white heather for good luck.

Second wedding (1992) s posy of heather.

Lady Diana
The bouquet, 42" long and 15" wide Gardenias, Stephanotis Freesia Odontoglossum Orchid )
Lily of the Valley, Yellow Earl Mountbatten Roses, Hedera (Ivy), Tradescantia Myrtle
Veronica (Hebe)

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York

Cream lilies, palest yellow roses, gardenias, lilies-of-the-valley and the traditional sprig of myrtle.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex

A tall lily named after Sophie. blown ivory garden roses, scented stephanotis, clustered lily of the valley and ivory freesia.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
Lily of the valley and primroses

Kate Middleton’s Wedding Bouquet

at APRIL 30, 2011 by RACHAEL in VILLAGE LIFE9
The flower geek in me couldn’t help but be excited about what flowers Kate Middleton would choose for her wedding bouquet. Whilst over at Madame Guillotine, fellow writer Melanie is all about the wedding dress, I was dying to see which flowers Kate would choose for her bridal posy.


The bouquet was designed by Shane Connolly and draws on the traditions of flowers of significance for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and on the Language of Flowers.

The flowers’ meanings in the bouquet are:

Lily-of-the-valley – Return of happiness

Sweet William – Gallantry

Hyacinth – Constancy of love

Ivy: Fidelity; marriage; wedded love; friendship; affection

Myrtle: the emblem of marriage; love.

The bouquet contains stems from a myrtle planted at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, by Queen Victoria in 1845, and a sprig from a plant grown from the myrtle used in The Queen’s wedding bouquet of 1947.

The tradition of carrying myrtle begun after Queen Victoria was given a nosegay containing myrtle by Prince Albert’s grandmother during a visit to Gotha in Germany. In the same year, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Osborne House as a family retreat, and a sprig from the posy was planted against the terrace walls, where it continues to thrive today.

The myrtle was first carried by Queen Victoria eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, when she married in 1858, and was used to signify the traditional innocence of a bride.