A UTTOXETER florist has been given the royal seal of approval after stepping in to provide flowers for His Royal Highness Prince Charles.
Margaret Button, from Emilie Duclos Florist in Church Street, came to the rescue when flowers which were to be couriered from London to Derbyshire on behalf of the Prince of Wales were damaged.
With time running out a desperate call was made to a nearby florist from London-based Moyses Stevens and it just so happened to be Emilie Duclos in Uttoxeter that was telephoned and they could not have made a better choice.
Mrs Button was actually trained by Moyses Stevens and had on two occasions before moving to Uttoxeter some six years ago from London actually supplied flowers to Buckingham Palace.
Therefore she was aware of the Royals’ taste in flowers and was able to supply the order with 100 per cent confidence.
Mrs Button told the Advertiser: “I got a phone call from Moyses Stevens in London and they said they dealt with Prince Charles’ bouquets and that they make them and then ship them by courier to where they needed to go.
“However, on this occasion the courier had damaged the flowers and they desperately needed someone local to where the flowers needed to go which was somewhere in Derbyshire.
“They asked me and I said to her that I had actually trained at Moyses Stevens so I knew exactly what they wanted and she was very relieved at that.
“We couldn’t send anything out until the card arrived from Prince Charles as he likes to personally sign the cards that go with the flowers.
“So customers were asking about the flowers and I would tell them they are Prince Charles’! “It was a real privilege and they seemed very pleased with it.” Councillor Peter Ball, who represents Uttoxeter Town on East Staffordshire Borough Council, said it was great to see an independent business in the town linked to royalty.
He said: “We have some fantastic independent traders in Uttoxeter and to see a shop like Emilie Duclos’ get such prestigious royal recognition just shows the standard of shops we have.
“I would like to say congratulations to Margaret and her staff for this great achievement.”
