Tuesday, April 24, 2007

A Rose by a Royal name

When royal ladies arrive at an engagement, it is customary to give a bouquet of flowers. Usually the royal lady will also receive flowers from the crowds, sometimes in abundance. Some of the flowers are kept and some are given to local hospitals for patients to enjoy. However, there are some flowers which, when received, royalty might hang on to.

Of the many accolades that royalty receives, whether having food, a building, or a street in their name, many have also had the honor of having a flower, usually a rose, named after them as well. Here are just a few of the flowers:

Princesse de Monaco: Named for Princess Grace of Monaco. Some of her hobbies included flower arranging and pressing. Her daughter also has a rose named after her called the Caroline de Monaco.

Crown Princess Mary - a rose named after Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and sold through the Heart foundation of Austrailia. Particularly appropriate as her late mother, who passed away from heart disease, was an avid rose gardener.

What could be more appropriate for someone known as 'England's Rose', than to have a flower named after her. This is actually not the first flower named in her honor. There's also one called the 'Lady Diana' and another called 'The Princess of Wales'. The one pictured is the 'Diana, Princess of Wales' and is being sold to raise money for her memorial foundation.

Royal William. Depending on which source you check, this rose is either named to commemorate the birth of Prince William or to mark King William III's arrival in England in 1688.

Duchess of Cornwall - named after Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall to raise funds for the National Osteoporosis Society, a disease her mother died of.

Princess Alice Rose. Queen Victoria's third child and second daughter. She was also the mother of Victoria, Marchioness of Milford Haven .

Other royals who have had flowers named after them:

Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands
Princess Margaret
Princess Michael of Kent
Princess Marina and her daughter Princess Alexandra
Princess Michiko of Japan (now Empress Michiko)
Princess Alexandra of Denmark

© Marilyn Braun 2007

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Monaco rose was actually named for Princess Alice and after her separation from Albert he had the rose renamed in his fury over her affair.