Royal Wedding Flowers Delight Hospice Patients, Honor Grave of the Unknown Warrior

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's extravagant wedding wouldn't have been complete without its endless arrangements of gorgeous flowers.

But as the spotlight dims on St George's Chapel, those beautiful blooms that adorned it for Saturday's ceremony have found a second use.

The flowers were made into bouquets and gifted to St Joseph's Hospice in Hackney Sunday.

We were naturally very excited, but had to keep it quiet until after the wedding day," Claire Learner, the PR & Communications Manager at St Joseph’s Hospice, said in a statement to InsideEdition.com. "They were delivered on Sunday and after taking some photographs we took them round our three wards and gave a bouquet to all of our patients who were of course surprised and delighted."

Photos from the hospice taken Sunday show the patients were, indeed, very much delighted.

“To see the faces of the patients when they received the flowers was just fantastic, I’ll never forget that moment. There’s such excitement and a huge buzz around St Joseph’s Hospice today," Learner said. 

Learner and the appreciative hospice patients wanted to return the favor to Markle and the prince with their warm congratulations.

"We wish them a long and happy marriage — it’s all been just amazing," Learner said.

Markle's bouquet was donated as well.

In a tradition dating back nearly 100 years, the bouquet was given to London's iconic Westminster Abbey to be placed at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.

The tradition dates to the marriage of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (known as Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) established the long-held Royal Wedding tradition. As she entered Westminster Abbey on her wedding day, the royal bride stopped to lay her flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

The gesture was in remembrance of her own brother, Fergus, who died at the Battle of Loos in 1915 and to pay tribute to the millions of others killed and injured in World War I. 

Many royal brides have adapted the gesture since then, laying their flowers on the tomb as they leave the church instead of when they enter. 

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