Photo by Yui Mok | WPA Pool via Getty Images
Inside Westminster Abbey, Shane Connolly prepares to install the floral designs for the King’s Coronation.
Shane Connolly, one of the most important floristic authorities in the United Kingdom, enjoys welcoming guests to his headquarters, a single-story, weathered- brick building draped in tousled green vines. Once home to an antiques restoration business, the structure is identified with its original signage: ‘Eynham Works.’ “This was basically an industrial building with lots of greenery that had been empty for five years,” Shane says. “We added two new sheds and transformed the interiors into a light-filled, more proper place that functions efficiently for our needs.”
Shane’s business is located 40 minutes outside of London in North Kensington, a quaint neighborhood lined with family homes, gardens, small shops, and restaurants. “I have had my headquarters here for 12 years, and I also live in the area,” he says. “I like the feel of living in a small town within a big city. When you go in a coffee shop, everyone greets you.”
The only child of devoted parents, Shane was gifted a little greenhouse when he was 12 years old. That gift led to a lifelong love of plants and gardening for this celebrity florist who is often described as a “genius” in the erudite world of flowers. Eventually Shane turned that passion into a career as he segued from the field of psychology to floristry. He launched his business, Shane Connolly and Co., in 1989 after training with some of London’s top floral designers. But it was his exquisite execution of the King and Queen’s wedding in 2005 and the Prince and Princess of Wales’s nuptials in 2011 that thrust him into the international spotlight. As recipient of two Royal Warrants of Appointment to His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen, Shane has been the monarchy’s official supplier of flowers for almost two decades.
“The real meaning of each flower is more important than any design scheme.”
—Floral Designer Shane Connolly
Outside of royal duties, the designer and his team have used their talents at various museum events, such as those at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Garden Museum. However, it is the top-tier private celebrations and stylish weddings that truly highlight Shane’s signature flair and widespread popularity. As a result, his lecture and demonstration calendar is robust with countless events that define the unique beauty of all four seasons in both Europe and the United States.
Throughout his decades of floral design, Shane says there is one area that has become more important to him. “As I have gotten older, my focus has shifted to the need for sustainability in floristry,” he says. The Coronation in May 2023, which Shane describes as the “greatest moment of my career,” was one such event where he displayed his strong belief in this practice. In addition, it represented a patriotic effort of planning and installation involving armies of volunteers who grew and transported plant materials from every corner of the Commonwealth. “The Royal Horticultural Society contributed large cuttings of azaleas, rhododendrons, and apple blossoms from its five member gardens—Wisley, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor, Harlow Carr, and Bridgewater,” says Shane. “The blooms were displayed on the High Altar and in vast open spaces in the Abbey. We even used special birch branches from trees planted at Wisley in 1978 by the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.” In keeping with the emphasis on utilizing local sources, Shane enlisted a volunteer group of 1,000 growers called Flowers From the Farm (FFTF) to contribute plant material. “It felt as if everyone was bringing their homegrown flowers as a way of wordlessly saluting the King,” he says.
Photo courtesy of Shane Connolly & Co.
In a client’s London showroom, Shane used all British flowers and foliage for an arrangement that reflects the summer season. He included trailing sweet peas, regal lilies, lupins, and towering stems of garden roses.
“The first week in May is still quite early for British flowers, so we relied on bulbs to provide much of the color,” says Gill Hodgson, who founded FFTF in 2011. “England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland are mostly able to grow the same varieties of flowers—the difference was how far advanced the season was in each area.” As an example, she explains that while lily of the valley was already blooming in the southwest of England, narcissi were still abundant in the north of Scotland, which is on the same latitude as Juneau, Alaska. “By sourcing from growers over the span of 600 miles, we were able to supply a wide range of varieties, each in season in their own area.”
While Shane gave Gill a bold, heraldic color scheme to work with, he left varietal choices to her and the growers. “Tulips, hellebores, and ranunculus were the most-used varieties, but we also had wallflowers, cowslips, geums, aquilegias, Sweet Williams, and lilacs,” Gill says. “Foliage included Physocarpus, flowering currant, rosemary, and azalea.”
Photo courtesy of Shane Connolly & Co.
Shane enjoys using cuttings from his own garden, as seen in this arrangement of Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum.’
Shane saluted other brilliant contributions. “The official Coronation emblem was designed by Sir Jony Ive, former Chief Design Officer at Apple, Inc., and his creative collective, LoveFrom,” he says. “Sir Jony Ive’s team recognized the Common- wealth with a brilliant rendering of the King Edward Crown filled with flower symbols of the four members: the rose of England, daffodil of Wales, shamrock of Northern Ireland, and bright thistle of Scotland, the oldest national flower dating from the reign of King Alexander III (1249-1286). The whimsical design charmed visitors, who carried away reproductions of the keepsake on jewelry, tea towels, postcards, Christmas decorations, and ceramics.” As Sir Jony Ive explains, “The design was inspired by King Charles’s love of the planet and his deep concern for the natural world.”
The week preceding the tradition-laden Coronation was filled with nonstop tasks, some that went smoothly and others that Shane insists took “10 years off my life.” When plant materials arrived on Thursday evening, the team worked through the night. Much like a gifted artist applying paint, Shane tenderly orchestrated the evolving stage set as his branches, trees, and flowers created the sentimental British background. Among the installations were two large yew topiaries underplanted with meadows of wood violets, primroses, wild grasses, and cowslips at the Abbey’s entrance. The quire (the seating area for the clergy and choir) boasted drifts of honeysuckle, tulips, and jasmine, while foliage of bay, birch, and wild broom from Scotland’s Isle of Skye scented the air.
Photo courtesy of Shane Connolly & Co.
For an event at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Shane mixed a tumble of British beech and Viburnum opulus with a few clusters of foxgloves. “It’s simple yet generous—and so effective,” says the designer.
In keeping with Shane’s emphasis on sustainability, volunteers from the nonprofit Floral Angels arrived the day after the ceremony to recycle the floral bonanza into arrangements for hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices. The efforts served as the perfect encore to the historic day.
As he reflects on the royal event, as well as his entire career, Shane says he considers himself “the luckiest person in the world.” Whether designing for royal occasions and private parties or quietly planting in his Worcestershire garden, he has a clear pursuit of beauty. Shane’s respect for delicate plant material is often described as a palpable dialogue with flowers. As the passionate alchemist himself maintains, “The real meaning of each flower is more important than any design scheme.”
