The note had a simple but touching message: “With love and devoted memory.” Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin is carried down Horse Guards Avenue after her funeral at Westminster Abbey in central London Monday, September 19, 2022. Alkis Konstantinidis/Pool Photo via AP Charles signed the note as Charles R., with the “R” standing for Rex, the Latin word for king. Story continues below ad
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Funeral of Queen Elizabeth: The world says goodbye to the British monarch
This gesture of leaving a note on a royal casket is a tradition dating back at least decades. more recently, Queen Elizabeth herself left a handwritten note on Prince Philip’s coffin when he died in 2021. The message read, in part, “I love you.” Elizabeth and Philip were married for more than seven decades, and letters played an important part in their courtship.
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Those who remember Princess Diana’s funeral may remember the shocking moment when Prince William, who was 15 at the time, left a note in an envelope that simply read “Mummy” on Diana’s funeral wreath. The origin of this tradition may date back to 1952 during the funeral of King George VI, Elizabeth’s father. As king, George led the United Kingdom into World War II alongside then-prime minister Winston Churchill. When George died, Churchill sent a funeral wreath with a prominent note. The message read “For bravery”, a phrase that adorns the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military honour. When Churchill died in 1965, Queen Elizabeth returned his kind words to her father by leaving a note on his grave that read “From the nation and the Commonwealth in gratitude, Elizabeth R.” (In this case, the “R” stands for Regina, the Latin word for queen.) Trending Stories
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When Charles left the note on his late mother’s coffin, he placed it among a bouquet of highly symbolic flowers that he specifically requested. The floral wreath was collected from royal residences and included cuttings from a myrtle bush grown from a sprig of the plant that was in Queen Elizabeth’s wedding bouquet. 0:33 Queen Elizabeth’s corgis and ponies watch funeral procession at Windsor Castle Previous Video Next Video “At the request of His Majesty the King, the wreath contains flowers and foliage cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove House,” the Royal Family said in a statement ahead of the funeral. “This includes the foliage chosen for its symbolism: Rosemary for remembrance. Myrtle, the ancient symbol of a happy marriage, and cut from a plant that grew from a sprig of myrtle in Her Majesty’s wedding bouquet in 1947. And English oak, symbolizing the power of love.’ Story continues below ad
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The wreath also included fragrant pelargoniums, garden roses, autumn hydrangea, sedum, dahlias and scabious, “all in shades of gold, pink and deep burgundy, with touches of white, reflecting the Royal Standard on which it sits,” the palace added. “Again at Her Majesty’s request, the wreath is made in a completely sustainable way, inside a nest of English moss and oak branches and without the use of floral foam.” It seems the note and wreath, along with the Royal Imperial Crown, Scepter and Sovereign’s Orb, weren’t the only things adorning the Queen’s coffin at her funeral. An astute Twitter user discovered that a small spider was riding on Charles’ handwritten note as the Queen’s coffin was carried into Westminster Abbey. And also with her, The Royal SpiderKeeping flies to the end, I salute you, Spider 🫡 🕷 pic.twitter.com/oD2EoH47xq — Evildalek79 (@EvilDalek79) September 19, 2022 Story continues below ad “Royal Spider keeps (flying) away until the end,” the Twitter user wrote. © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
