It is just a single day's work but for Rosemary Mason creating sweet-smelling bouquets for the royal family is a job not to be sniffed at.
While the 55-year-old florist, from Hamilton, Leicester, may have one of the world's oddest job titles – The Queen's Supplier of Nosegays – she takes that role very seriously.
Yesterday, Mrs Mason's handiwork could be seen clutched in the hand of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at a Maundy Thursday service held in Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk.
A nosegay is a small posy of flowers. The term dates from medieval times when people carried flowers around the block the smells of open sewers
She said: "It has to be one of the world's oddest job titles.
"I bought the flowers in Nottingham market on Monday and spent about eight hours on the day before the service making 12 nosegays. I finished them off with some fresh primroses at about 6.30am before the service.
"It was marvellous to be sat there and to see the nosegays that I had made being carried by the Queen and Prince Phillip."
Mrs Mason and her team of three assistants use a mixture of plants including daffodils, freesias and ivy to create the nosegays.
However, the exact recipe for the bouquet carried by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and a handful of other people taking part in the annual service is a fiercely guarded secret.
"The recipe will remain a secret. I'll pass it on to my successor, but no-one else," Mrs Mason said.
Mrs Mason has been helping make Maundy nosegays since 1983 and was given the royal warrant in 2008.
She is also responsible for the flowers at St Mary De Castro Church, in Castle Street, Leicester.
Father David Cawley, vicar at the church, said it was a real honour to have a royal-appointed florist among the congregation.
He said: "It is a privilege and we are lucky to have her.
"We've been very lucky with the level of talent of our flower arrangers, but I suppose Rosemary takes the biscuit."
The Maundy Service has origins in the story of Christ washing the feet of his disciples shortly before his death.
Maundy is derived from the word "mandatum" or command – Christ was said to have commanded the disciples to love one another at The Last Supper.
Each year on the day before Good Friday, the monarch hands special coins, Maundy Money, to a few of her subjects. The tradition dates back to the 13th century. Initially the sovereign gave money to the poor – and washed recipients' feet. Foot-washing ended with James II.
Kings and queens carried nosegays to ward off unpleasant smells.
The Queen now gives Maundy Money to pensioners nominated for their service to the community.
The Maundy service used to take place in London, but early in her reign the Queen decided that the ceremony should take place at a different venue every year.
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