Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Banquet Table, Lancaster House, with flowers by Constance Spry

A detail of Queen Elizabeth II's table setting created by Constance Spry at her coronation banquet table in Lancaster House, London.
Spry writes in 'Party Flowers', "It was probably extremely naive of me not to realise at once what doors would be opened for such an event. What followed was very like that childhood's dream of finding oneself in an Aladdin's cave of treasure....The wonderful gold and silver of the Wellington and of the Ormonde collections. Then similar excitement was repeated when Sir Leigh Ashton allowed us behind the scenes at the Victoria & Albert Museum and helped us choose what we required for flowers. For the Queen's table the lovely gold and silver tureens known, I think, as the Deccan Set, were chosen, together with the superb candelabrum that goes with these... The flowers themselves were to be arranged in low gilt and crystal baskets....candles on a table would be out of place. We did long to use that beautiful centre-piece, and in the end got over the difficulty by replacing the candles with slender pointed posies made of tiny flowers; jasmine, myrtle, miniature rose-buds, and suchlike, which fitted neatly into the candle holders and raised aloft touches of colour and delicate scent."

Image from a Constance Spry photograph album, Ref: 2019.265.8