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How World War II Affected Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's Wedding

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip Wedding Facts

How World War II Affected Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's Wedding

June 28, 2017 by Quinn Keaney

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The bride's bouquet had special meaning. Queen Elizabeth II's wedding bouquet came from the Worshipful Company of Gardeners. It was specifically arranged by florist MH Longman, who chose white orchids and a sprig of myrtle with special significance. The myrtle came from a bush that was grown from a sprig used in Queen Victoria's wedding bouquet (insane, right?!). Years later, at the Queen's Golden Wedding celebration in 1997, she was gifted an identical bouquet.
She continued the tradition of putting her bouquet on the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. The only stone not covered by the special carpet used in Westminster Abbey on the day of Elizabeth and Philip's wedding was the grave of the Unknown Warrior. The Queen also kept with the tradition started by her mother of returning to the grave the day after she tied the knot and placing her beautiful bouquet on the stone. The tradition has continued ever since (Kate Middleton did the same thing when she married Prince William!).
It was one of the first TV weddings, so to speak. The ceremony was broadcast via radio the day of, and later a film of the day was shown in movie theaters around the country.
Their gift table basically could've stretched a mile long. Well-wishers around the world expressed their joy for the couple in the form of over 2,500 gifts. Most of them were put on display for a charity exhibition at St. James's Place in 2007, where over 200,000 visitors showed up to take a look at what Philip and Elizabeth had been given.
They hosted a wedding "breakfast" after the ceremony. Guests congregated at Buckingham Palace to dine on Filet de Sole Mountbatten, Perdreau en Casserole, and Bombe Glacee Princess Elizabeth. Like Elizabeth's dress, the event relied on a charity donation to make it a possibility. The nine-foot-tall wedding cake (which was a whopping 500 lbs.!) was made from ingredients donated by the Australian Girl Guides. To repay the kindness, the couple didn't eat the cake at their reception. Instead, they passed it out to local schools, hospitals, and charity organizations.

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