There are many perks to being a member of the royal family, but chief among them is the honour of having a flower named after you (or a potato, if you’re King Edward VII).
Everyone from 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth to four-year-old Prince Louis is a part of this long tradition, which begun in the 18th century with the fiery red ‘Queen Victoria’ Lobelia.
Her Majesty, a known flower lover and frequenter of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, has lent her name to many blooms, but the most famous is the candy pink grandiflora ‘Queen Elizabeth’ Rose created for her 1953 coronation by rose breeder Lammerts.
For her Platinum Jubilee celebrating 70 years on the throne, the Queen has chosen an apricot pink hybrid tea rose, ‘Queen Elizabeth II’ Rose by Harkness Roses, as the official flower.
Let’s take a stroll through a virtual garden of our favourite regal blooms:
'Elizabeth' Rose
David Austin Roses created this pale pink-apricot rose in 2022 to honour the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, and it was showcased at the Chelsea Flower Show that year. The world-famous rose growers have a long tradition of royalty inspired roses, so it's no surprise they pulled out all the stops for the Jubilee.
The Elizabeth is a truly lovely rose, featuring large ruffled rosettes in a delicate blush pink, and sporting a sweet scent reminiscent of Old Rose and lemon sherbet.
Vanda ‘William Catherine’
Gifted to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to Singapore’s National Orchid Garden in 2012, this eye-catching orchid has pure white petals sprinkled with magenta dots.
Its large, plentiful flowers measure 8cm across, with as many as ten crammed onto a single stem. Orchids have symbolised sophistication and elegance since the Victorian age, on account of them only being found in the tropics, and therefore rare and expensive. A species worthy of the future King, then.
‘Duke of Edinburgh’ Rose
The Queen marked what would have been her late husband’s 100th birthday last June by watching the planting of a new rose named after him in the Windsor Castle gardens. Her Majesty described the double-flowered ‘Duke of Edinburgh’ Rose, gifted to her by the Royal Horticultural Society, as a “lovely” tribute.
Bred by Harkness Roses after Prince Phillip’s death on 9 April 2021, the rose is a deep pink, rippled with delicate white lines, and delicately scented. Keith Weed, the appropriately named RHS president, presented it as a “commemorative rose for all the marvellous things that he did over his lifetime”.
Clematis ‘Meghan’
Following Prince Harry’s wedding to former Suits actress Meghan Markle on 19 May 2018, New Leaf Plants bred and a new clematis named after the latest royal bride. It was launched it at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2019, by Thorncroft Clematis.
Like the Duchess of Sussex herself, it’s vibrant and eye-catchingly beautiful, with reddish-purple petals. Described as “rich and opulent”, it flowers in early and late summer and can grow to over two metres tall.
Narcissus ‘Georgie Boy’
Unveiled at the 2014 Chelsea Flower Show by daffodil maestro Johnny Walkers when Prince George was just nine months old, this cheery variety with creamy white petals and a sunny yellow cup now seems the perfect match for the playful eight-year-old heir.
Chrysanthemum ‘Princess Charlotte’
Chrysanthemums have been a royal favourite ever since they were selected to adorn Westminster Abbey for the Queen’s wedding to Prince Philip in 1947.
Princess Charlotte has a suitably characterful ‘mum’ named after her. Bred by the world’s biggest chrysanthemum breeder, Deliflor, in 2016, it has huge candy floss pink flowers tipped with lime green – fit for a seven-year-old princess, surely.
Dahlia ‘Diana’s Memory’
This beautiful dahlia with its coral pink, yellow and lavender petals was named after the late Princess of Wales as a tribute to her beauty. It launched in 2000, but Diana had chosen it herself before her tragic death in 1997, during trials by breeder Robin Marks.
The ‘People’s Princess’ has a huge array of flowers named after her, including an alstroemeria, rose, clematis and hydrangea, but this unique bloom stands out just like she did.
Rose ‘Princess Alexandra of Kent’
This stunning rose, bred in 2002, is an emblem of femininity with its blousy petals in varying shades of pretty pink. Its scent is as heavenly as its looks, changing from fresh tea to lemon to blackcurrant as it ages. Its revered late breeder, David Austin, named it after Princess Alexandra, the Queen’s cousin.
Agapanthus ‘Queen Mum’
With its generous globes of trumpet-shaped flowers, this white and blueish-purple African lily is certainly regal in apperance. Named after the Queen Mother, also called Elizabeth, it loves the sun and flowers all summer long.
‘Queen Mum’ was bred in Australia in 1999 by Pine Mountain Nurseries s hardy, tolerating everything from drought to frost well, which feels appropriate for a former queen consort who lived to the grand age of 101.
Chrysanthemum ‘Archie Harrison’
When he was just a few weeks old, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, was bestowed a floral namesake in the form of a bright yellow chrysanthemum.
Unveiled at the 2019 RHS Malvern Spring Festival by Chrysanthemums Direct, it had been purposefully bred in a gender neutral colour after the Duchess of Sussex announced her pregnancy the preceding October.
Gladiolus Princess Margaret Rose
It was no secret that Princess Margaret loved a party, so only this show-stopping flame-coloured gladiolus could live up to her social butterfly reputation.
Stately and flamboyant in equal measures, it features ruffled red, yellow and orange blooms packed closely together on sword-like spikes. It’s the ideal choice if you want to inject a sense of fun into your garden.
'Princess Anne' Rose
David Austin Roses debuted this shrub rose, named in honour of Princess Anne, in 2010. It earned awards from both the Royal Horticultural Society and the UK Grower of the Year Awards - and it's easy to see why. The flowers are simply to die for, forming in spectacular clusters of bright pink, ruffled blooms. Even better, the rose blooms repeatedly from spring right through to autumn, and it has a divine fragrance too!
For flowers worthy of a royal’s seal of approval, browse our new summer range today, featuring blousy peonies, timeless roses, joyful sunflowers and many more. If only the best blooms will do, consider a bouquet from our Couture Collection.
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