King Charles III Picked Wreath, Wrote Letter for Queen’s Casket

A special tribute. Ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral, eldest son King Charles IIIShe had specific requests regarding the casket display.

Charles, 73, laid a handwritten note atop his late mother’s coffin during the Monday, September 19, processional ahead of the funeral service. His card read, “In loving and devoted memory” and included his official royal signature of “Charles R.”

The signed tribute sat beside a large floral arrangement — which the new sovereign helped pick out.


King Charles III
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“At His Majesty The King’s request, the wreath contains flowers and foliage cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove House,” a statement from the palace noted on Monday. “This includes foliage chosen for its symbolism.”

Charles made sure to include lots of rosemary for memory, English oak for strength of love and myrtle. The sprigs made of myrtle represent a happy marriage. This is a sweet nod towards her seven-decade marriage with Prince Philip, who died April 2021. The myrtle was cut from a myrtle that was originally grown from a sprig of her 1947 wedding bouquet. The wreath also contained scented pelargoniums and autumnal hydrangeas, sedum and dahlias.

The reigning monarch also requested that the wreath be made “in a totally sustainable way” using a nest of English moss and oak branches without any floral foam to hold its shape.

King Charles III Picked Out Floral Wreath, Wrote Letter for Queen Elizabeth II’s Casket

A message by Britain’s King Charles is left on Queen Elizabeth’s coffin.
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Elizabeth’s coffin — which also was adorned by the Sovereign’s Orb and the Sovereign’s Sceptre With Cross — was carried into Westminster Abbey by the British royal navy on the State Ceremonial Gun Carriage. Charles and his siblings — Princess Anne, Prince Andrew Prince Edward — followed on foot. Prince William, Prince Harry Peter PhillipsAlso, I joined the march

After the royal family arrived at historic cathedral, they were greeted by the members of the public. Princess Kate, Meghan Markle, Queen Consort Camilla, Sir Tim Laurence Sophie, Countess Of Wessex. William and Kate’s eldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, walked alongside their parents before the memorial began.

Following the service, Charles, his sons and his siblings accompanied Elizabeth’s casket from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch. The coffin will then travel in a hearse from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch for a committal ceremony before being buried beside the late Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

Buckingham Palace previously confirmed on September 8 that Her Majesty had “died peacefully” at the age of 96 while at her Balmoral Castle residence in Scotland.

“The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family,” Charles wrote in a statement at the time. “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.”

He added: “During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held.”