The Gist

• Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips and pediatric nurse Harriet Sperling married at All Saints’ Church in Kemble on June 6.

• Sperling’s bouquet, designed by florist Millie Richardson, featured sweet peas, myrtle, and lily of the valley—Queen Elizabeth’s favorite flower.

• Choosing myrtle for bouquets has been a tradition among royal brides since the 1850s.

When it came time to choose the flowers for her wedding bouquet, royal bride Harriet Sperling sweetly asked that the late Queen Elizabeth’s favorite flower be included, The Telegraph reported.

As she married the late queen’s grandson Peter Phillips on June 6 at a private ceremony at All Saints’ Church in Kemble, Sperling carried a bouquet of sweet peas, myrtle, and lily of the valley created by Millie Richardson. In a statement shared to InStyle, the couple’s spokesperson explained that myrtle is both a family tradition for Sperling and the royal family alike, a “symbolic meaning of love, beauty, and peace,” the spokesperson said.

Sperling also wore a tribute to the late monarch in the form of her engagement ring—designed by Pragnell, the same jeweler that designed then-Princess Elizabeth’s engagement ring when she became engaged to Prince Philip in 1946. Sperling also chose to wear the Pragnell family tiara and Pragnell earrings to walk down the aisle.

The bride wore a lace column gown by Emilia Wickstead with a 10-foot train and square neckline, which she paired with Jimmy Choo heels, her blonde hair worn in a low chignon.

Richardson told The Telegraph that Sperling chose lily of the valley—a favorite of Queen Elizabeth’s—for her bouquet, which she paired with cream sweet peas, astilbe, and jasmine in what was described as a “bowl of cream” bouquet.

Lily of the valley was featured not only in Princess Elizabeth’s wedding bouquet in 1947, but also in Queen Elizabeth’s 1953 coronation bouquet. Per The Telegraph, lily of the valley grows on Buckingham Palace’s 39 acres, and its inclusion in Sperling’s bouquet was symbolic of “the strong bond” between the late queen and Phillips, who was her eldest grandchild.

The tradition of royal brides carrying myrtle in their bouquets has been in place since the 1850s, per The Telegraph.

“Lily of the valley was definitely requested for its regal connotation,” Richardson told the outlet. “Myrtle is a symbol of beauty, grace, and love and was requested on the same basis. It’s included in every royal wedding bouquet.”

Sperling’s daughter Georgina and Phillips’s daughters Savannah and Isla served as Sperling’s bridesmaids, and wore floral headpieces “exclusively created with the lily of the valley flower,” Richardson said.

The three teenagers carried small bouquets that included nigella—also called love-in-a-mist—in pale blue to coordinate with Phillips’s buttonhole flower. Nigella was chosen because “it’s a seasonal-appropriate flower, and Harriet loves blue,” Richardson said. “She loves the pale blue sky tone.”

“A lot of the flowers are British-grown and British-based,” she continued. “They are sustainably aware about where their flowers are coming from, which is an important focus from King Charles. There’s an awful lot of thought sourcing the materials for this wedding.”

The color palette of the flowers inside All Saints’ Church blended white, off-white, and cream with “faint hues of pale pink and seasonal Granny Smith apple-colored greenery,” The Telegraph reported.  “Trees, shrubs, grasses, and English-grown flowers sourced as locally as possible formed part of the display.”

Sperling found Richardson on Instagram, and the florist said of the design of the wedding flowers, “It’s striking the balance between using seasonal materials and flowers to make arrangements feel like they belong, of the moment, and designed with thought and precision to make it appropriately smart for an important regal occasion.”

Other sweet Easter eggs were found throughout, like the mother-of-the-groom Princess Anne, who “radiated warmth despite the rain” (per Hello!) wearing a sunny yellow jacket layered over a red floral print dress. In a “touch of sweet family nostalgia,” the Princess Royal wore a vintage yellow silk hat that doubles as a beloved heirloom worn to her daughter Zara’s christening in 1981—45 years ago.

Following their wedding ceremony, the couple hosted guests at Anne’s home, Gatcombe Park, for their reception. Per The Times, Sperling will change her last name to Phillips, but her daughter, Georginia, will keep the surname Sperling after the wedding.