An archivist in the Catholic church in London has uncovered a chain of events that links Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman with the forthcoming marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
William Johnstone, assistant archivist at Westminster diocesan archives was cataloguing some 19th century correspondence recently at Westminster diocesan archives when he found a Catholic link to a perfume created by Floris London to mark the occasion.
The connection came in the person of Charles Joseph Pagliano, a prominent Italian who lived in London in the early 1800s, Johnstone writes for the diocesan website.
Pagliano, an Italian Catholic who was involved in charitable causes such as the Brotherhood of St Vincent de Paul and the Aged Poor, wrote to Cardinal Wiseman’s secretary requesting a contribution to a fundraising dinner.
Johnstone discovered that Pagliano came to England from the small fishing village of Positano on the Amalfi Coast in order to marry Mary Floris, daughter of Juan Famenias Floris, the founder of Floris, still based in Jermyn Street as it was then.
The citrus-infused perfume that Floris have made for Saturday's Royal wedding is inspired by Bergamotto di Positano, the very perfume that was created in honour of Pagliano and the Italian village where he grew up.
Johnstone writes: "The forthcoming wedding will undoubtedly be a fairly Anglican affair. But the story surrounding this new royal perfume is a reminder of the important role that Catholics have always played in London’s history. There are often interesting nuggets to be found while rooting through historical archives. The fact that the Pagliano letter appeared just a few weeks before the royal event takes place is remarkable in itself."
Detail of the 'Instrument of Consent', which is the Queen's historic formal consent to Prince Harry's forthcoming marriage to Meghan Markle, photographed at Buckingham Palace, London.
Top pic: File photo dated 25/09/17 of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada. Picture by: Danny Lawson/PA Wire/PA Images
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