“Grief is the price we pay for love.” 

This quote, from Queen Elizabeth II herself, captures the essence of this wreath commemorating her passing on 8th September at Balmoral Castle and the period of mourning that followed until her funeral on 19 September 2022. 

An expression of both solemnity and celebration, the wreath serves as a representation of eternal life. Symbolic of the many wreaths that had been placed at memorials of the fallen by the Queen over her platinum reign, this densely flowered bouquet has been meticulously created in honour of the Queen by Kate Lewis, who placed the original at the memorial in Green Park. 

Even from a distance, we are impressed at a subliminal level: we see ‘love’ and the numbers ‘1926’ and ‘2022’; we can quickly identify the English roses, Scottish thistle, Welsh flax. As we look more carefully, we are taken in by flora displayed in a manner that is both ceremonially and wild—the dahlias, the ivy, the heather—the details diverse and distinct. The linear orderliness of the grasses is suggestive of the queue that stretched miles across London, so 250,000 people could pay their final respect at Westminster Abbey. The black ribbon, the work’s only direct allusion to grief, is symbolic of the hand-tied ribbon on a wedding bouquet—an homage to her 73-year marriage to Prince Philip—while also referencing the ribbons that were tied around the royal hives as the bees were told of the Queen’s death. 

Some of the many stories that bloom within this wreath: 

King Charles’s first address to the nation, “We loved you ma’am”

Animals, central to the Queens’s life, played a part in her funeral. Muick and Sandy, two of the Queen’s corgis, waited for the hearse at Windsor before the final journey to St Georges Chapel. Emma, The Queen’s fell pony waited in the long procession at Windsor Park.

Wreaths and flower are laid, as well as marmalade sandwiches and Paddington Bears

“London Bridge is down” message sent by the Queen’s Private secretary, code for the death of ERII

The rainbows, appearing moments after her death was announced, above the crowds united in grief at Buckingham Palace.

Black cab drivers lined along The Mall.

Text by Sloane Warren