Princess Beatrice’s wedding bouquet rests on Warrior’s grave

The granddaughter of HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh married Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a private service on Friday.

The tradition of royal brides sending their bouquets to rest on the Warrior's grave was begun by HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, at her marriage to King George VI in 1923. On her way into the Abbey, she paused to lay her flowers in memory of her brother Fergus who was killed in 1915 at the Battle of Loos during the First World War. Since then, brides including HM The Queen, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Beatrice's sister, HRH Princess Eugenie, have continued the tradition.

The Warrior's Grave stands as a remarkable tribute both to the fallen of the First World War and to all those who have died since in international military conflict.

In 1920, the Reverend David Railton, a First World War army padre, suggested that an unknown soldier from the battlefield should be brought back to Britain for burial as a representative for all who had died. The grave remains a focus for pilgrimage and a powerful symbol, known across the world, of the sacrifice, suffering and bravery brought by war. It is the only grave or memorial in the Abbey which is never walked over.