We can already guess what the scent of this year's most famous bride will be. Back in April, the British house Floris announced that its perfumers would create eau de toilette specifically for Meghan Markle's wedding. The basis for the new creation will be a fragrance that has long been in the brand's lineup. It is called Bergamotto di Positano and consists of "sea" and citrus notes mixed with warm accords of ambrette and vanilla. This aroma-protope of the wedding is on free sale, including in our country. You can buy it, for example, on the TsUM website.
Floris has been serving members of the British royal family for more than a year or a century. It was founded at the beginning of the 18th century, and in 1820 received the first order from King George V. Several decades later, his daughter, the legendary Queen Victoria, became a client of the brand. The perfumers made a gift for her wedding too: in 1840, on the day of her marriage to Prince Albert, Her Majesty received the fragrance Bouquet de lReine ("The Queen's Bouquet"). One of its main notes is also bergamot, but, unlike Meghan Markle's eau de toilette, this composition is much less “fresh” and more floral: you can “hear” jasmine, rose, tuberose and ylang-ylang in it. A modernized version of the fragrance is still on sale today.
What did the princesses and duchesses who lived a century and more after Victoria smell like, going down the aisle? We conducted our own little investigation - and this is what we managed to find out.
Elizabeth II - Floris, White Rose
Another Floris fan in the British royal family. In 1947, Elizabeth, then Princess Lilibet, married her distant relative, Prince Philip (read: "Her Majesty's Spouse: Elizabeth II and Philip"). She wore a romantic dress with floral embroidery by designer Norman Hartnell and most likely White Rose by Floris. Elizabeth was already a devoted client of the perfume house back then, and it was this eau de toilette with notes of carnation, white rose and aldehydes, created in 1800, that was her favorite in her youth.
I must say that these days Elizabeth is still true Floris. The brand is the official supplier of Her Majesty. In 2013, his perfumers created Royal Arms to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne. Eau de Toilette, based on notes of violet and iris, is a modern interpretation of the fragrance of the same name, which went on sale in 1926 to celebrate the birth of Princess Lilibet. In 2013, in honor of the anniversary, six precious Royal Arms diamond-encrusted bottles were released. In the jubilee year, they were put on public display in Buckingham Gardens.
Grace Kelly - Creed, Fleurissimo
Creed is another perfume house loved by the European nobility. It was founded in 1760, and in the 19th century, like its main competitor Floris, it became one of the favorites of Queen Victoria. Especially for her, Creed perfumers created in 1845 Fleurs de Bulgarie (Flowers of Bulgaria), built on the note of the Bulgarian rose. Among the clients of the brand were, for example, the wife of Napoleon III, Empress Eugenia, and the Austrian empress Sissi. In 1997, the brand released a scent in memory of Princess Diana - the citrus Royal Water.
The original and aristocratic Fleurissimo, a mix of white flowers and incense, a perfumer, a descendant of the brand founder James Henry Creed, created in 1956 specifically for the wedding of Hollywood actress Grace Kelly and the heir to the throne of Monaco Prince Rainier III - at the request of the groom, who wanted to give the bride a gift (read: "Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier: A Love Story"). The fragrance soon went on sale and can be found in online and offline stores today. In addition to Grace, Fleurissimo was and is worn by Jacqueline Kennedy, Cindy Crawford, Madonna and - surprise! - Elizabeth II.
Princess Diana - Houbigant, Quelques Fleurs
The only bride in our selection to choose a French fragrance for her wedding (read: “Princess Diana's Favorite Fragrances: Citrus, Spices, Jasmine and Abundance of Flowers”). However, the history of the perfume house Houbigant is almost as long as that of its English rival houses. It was founded in Paris in 1775, and the aristocrats loved it almost immediately. Among the clients was Marie Antoinette herself, who went to the guillotine, hiding three bottles of Houbigant perfume under her bodice - their mere presence calmed her and gave her strength. Later, Napoleon (who entered the Parisian Houbigant store shortly before exile in 1815), Queen Victoria and the Russian imperial court, whose official supplier the House became at the end of the 19th century, became fans of the brand. In 1890, Houbigant launched The Czarin Bouquet for the mother of Nicholas II,Empress Maria Feodorovna.
Quelques Fleurs (“Several Flowers”) was created in 1912 by perfumer Robert Bianame and became an instant bestseller. It is on sale now and of course it was available in 1981 when young Diana Spencer married Crown Prince Charles. Many people know about the related curiosity: the bride tried to perfume her wrists before leaving the wedding carriage, but a few drops from the bottle spilled onto the dress and left an ugly yellow spot on the snow-white fabric, which Diana had to cover with her hand throughout the ceremony (read: “Wedding Princess Diana's disaster dress”). However, hardly anyone would have guessed about this, if not for Lady Di's makeup artist Barbara Daly, who told the story to the world today.
Kate Middleton - Illuminum, White GardeniPetals
The future Duchess of Cambridge, unlike her predecessors, chose not an old house "with history", but a young niche brand. The Illuminum brand was founded in 2011 by Englishman Michael Boudy. Initially, Michael worked as a hairstyle stylist - and quite successfully: he helped create images for the shows of Gucci, Chanel, Missoni, collaborated with stars like Madonna, J. Lo and Bjork.
In 2008, he decided to retrain as a perfumer and created the Boadice The Victoriuos brand, which still exists today and is highly appreciated by connoisseurs. Three years later, Michael launched Illuminum. According to his idea, the fragrances from the new line were supposed to be lighter, minimalist and modern. White GardeniPetals is one of the first for Illuminum. It was released in March 2011, just over a month before Kate and William's wedding. (read: "Facts You May Not Know About Kate Middleton & Prince William's Wedding").
“We sent a bottle of the new fragrance to Miss Middleton's office as we planned to discuss a charity project with her,” Michael Donovan, a PR spokesman for Illuminum, told The Scented Salamander. “Later that day, I received a call from her office and was told that she had chosen a fragrance for the wedding. I didn't want to spread this information until I received official confirmation from Buckingham Palace. From there they called me on the wedding day and everything was confirmed. I was on vacation in France, but sat glued down in front of the TV. That was incredible!".
White GadreniPetals is based on notes of, in fact, gardenia, lily, lily of the valley, jasmine and ylang. In short, it smells like a real wedding bouquet.
Photo: Getty Images, press archives
Related materials
- The flower found in all royal wedding bouquets
- Keiko Mecheri: "In Japan, fragrances are worn completely differently than in Europe"
- 35 ironic (but wise) relationship quotes from famous people