Floral tributes for Queen Elizabeth II to be composted and used in Royal Parks

Floral tributes for Queen Elizabeth II to be composted and used in Royal Parks
Live stream 1069
Tom Evans

By Tom Evans


Published: 20/09/2022

- 17:10

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 10:38

Floral tributes to Queen Elizabeth II will be composted and given a new lease of life in planting projects throughout the Royal Parks

It is expected that work to remove items laid by the public will begin on Monday, a week after the state funeral, and will continue for seven days.

Visitors will still be able to lay tributes but blooms which have already deteriorated will be moved to the Hyde Park nursery.


Once taken away, any remaining packaging, cards and labels will be removed, before the plant material is composted in Kensington Gardens.

The compost will then be used on landscaping projects and shrubberies across the Royal Parks.

In terms of other tributes, a spokesperson for the Royal Parks said: “Our priority at the moment is to manage the huge volume of flowers and tributes that are being left in the Green Park Floral Tribute Garden.

“We will store any teddies and artefacts that have been left and will work closely with our partners to agree what we do with them over the next few months with discretion and sensitivity.”

It comes after Queen Elizabeth II's spectacular state funeral on Monday.

Around a quarter of a million people paid their respects in person by viewing her coffin as it was Lying-In-State.

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan gave the figure the morning after the nation’s longest-reigning monarch was buried at Windsor Castle.

Ms Donelan said her department was still “crunching the numbers” as to how many people had queued, but that she believed they numbered around 250,000.

She added that most British people would see the cost of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral as “money well spent” but could not put a figure on what that cost might be.

The Royal Family is observing another week of mourning.

King Charles decreed on September 9 that a period of mourning would be observed until seven days after the funeral.

Members of the Royal Family are not expected to carry out official engagements and flags at royal residences will remain at half-mast until 8am after the final day of royal mourning.

They have been consoled by the support and love they have received from the public, including the tens of thousands who turned out to watch the late monarch’s funeral.

Her Majesty was finally laid to rest with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, during a private evening burial service attended just by close family.

The family’s website said it was conducted by the Dean of Windsor, adding that Queen Elizabeth II was buried together with Prince Philip at The King George VI Memorial Chapel.

People view floral tributes in Green Park following the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, in London, Britain September 18, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson
Floral tributes to Queen Elizabeth II
TOM NICHOLSON

People view floral tributes in Green Park following the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, in London, Britain September 18, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson
The flowers will be composted
TOM NICHOLSON

You may like