Princess Ingrid of Sweden continued a royal tradition which her own mother brought from Britain on her wedding day.
She wore a crown of myrtle on top of her mother’s veil of Irish lace at her wedding to Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik on 24 May 1935.
The little crown has been carefully preserved during the past 85 years in the Danish Royal Court’s Archives.
Myrtle’s Ancient Origins
Myrtle has represented love, fertility and innocence for thousands of years–a tradition originating in ancient Greece and used during Roman wedding ceremonies.
A Royal Tradition From Britain
Myrtle was included in a posy presented to Queen Victoria from Prince Albert’s grandmother in 1845.
Princess Victoria, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, began the tradition of carrying a sprig of myrtle in her bridal bouquet on her wedding day in 1858 when she married Prince Frederick of Prussia (later Emperor Frederick III).
Her niece Princess Margaret of Connaught continued this tradition when she married Prince Gustaf of Sweden at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on 15 June 1905.
In Sweden
Princess Margaret brought cuttings from a myrtle shrub at Osborne House and planted them at Sofiero Palace, a wedding gift from King Oscar II (Prince Gustaf’s grandfather), after their arrival in Sweden.
Prince Gustaf and Princess Margaret then became the Crown Prince and Princess when his father ascended the Swedish throne as Gustav V on 8 December 1907.
However, the new Crown Princess was known as ‘Margareta’ in Sweden.
They had five children, including Prince Gustaf Adolf (father of King Carl XVI Gustaf), Princess Ingrid and Prince Bertil.
Crown Princess Margareta died on 1 May 1920, when Ingrid was only ten years old.
Now A Danish Royal Tradition
Princess Ingrid also planted myrtle at Fredensborg Castle, from shoots from the myrtle bush at Sophiero in Sweden.
The tradition of carrying myrtle in a royal wedding bouquet in Denmark continues to this day.
Queen Margrethe II, Princess Benedikte and Queen Anne-Marie, Crown Princess Mary and Princess Marie carried myrtle in their bridal bouquets.
Prince Joachim married Princess Marie on 24 May 2008, exactly 73 years after Princess Ingrid married Frederik IX in 1935.
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