Cousin of the Queen - Mary Whitley

First off Happy Valentine's Day to everyone... sorry for the absence, I have been working pretty hard the past week, and the blog posts just weren't coming. We've had a lot going on, with the Olympics starting and a freak snow fall here in the south, I was more than occupied in the evenings when I usually do my blogging.

Many thanks to Stan for his gift to me last year on Valentine's Day, a subscription to Majesty, a wonderful monthly magazine concerning news and history of the royal families of the world. What a treasure trove of information is has been, and so very helpful in maintaining my blog.

The picture today is a great shot of a royal wedding bouquet. This couple is Mary and Peter Whitley. Mary was second cousin to Queen Elizabeth II, and Peter served at one time as a member of the world famous Grenadier Guards (the guards in red tunics and bear skin hats that guard Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace in London, as well as serving in combat on the front lines).

Mary served as bridesmaid to the Queen at her wedding to Prince Phillip in 1947. Mary's father was Prince George of Teck, brother of Queen Mary, the current Monarch's grandmother.

Her flowers... I really do wish that brides today would be interested in bouquets like this, not only for their beauty but for the challenge of the artist/floral designer that would be charged with creating such an intricate floral piece literally hours before the wedding. The bouquet is a classic cascade style and appears to contain roses, Lily of the Valley, carnations, orchids, stephanotis, and gardenias. Near the tail end of the bouquet, it is very easy to see the wired and white tape construction. I guarantee you this one was not going to fall apart, nor leak water on to the bride's gown.

Royal Wedding Tidbit of the day... before Mary was Elizabeth's bridesmaid in 947, they both served together as bridesmaids at the wedding of the Duke of Gloucester and Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott in 1935... at that wedding, the both carried nosegays of pink roses.

Photo Credit: "Mary Whitley", by Robert Golden, "Majesty", February, 2010, pg. 32.