I think it's a really beautiful reply. Around the Victorian Era, there began this custom of using black edged stationary during the period of mourning after someone dies. Traditionally, you would use it throughout the morning period, and the width of the black border would indicate full-morning, half-mourning, etc. This tradition has largely gone away. But, we still see the black edge border used from time to time on condolence messages.
The envelopes is pretty similar to the usual from the Luxembourg Royals, except this features a black border around the edge.
The back of the card also features black edging, and the inside of the envelope is lined with black tissue paper. The crown is the same we normally see on the back of the Luxembourg royal envelopes, but instead of being in blue, it is black.
The card features the same black edge border. The flat card is similar to the usual from the Luxembourg royals. The big difference is the black crown and black text, opposed to the usual blue.
The card reads:
Fischbach, February 2019
Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg very much appreciated your message of sympathy on the passing away of His sister Princess Alix. His Royal Highness would like to convey to you His sincerest thanks.If you have ever written to Grand Duke Jean before you may have noticed his replies are a little different than the rest of the family. One of the big distinctions is his envelopes & cards have the name of his residence, Chateau de Fischbach, under the crown.
This envelope and card is more like what the rest of the family normally uses. I think they just have one set of black-edged stationery lying around for everyone to use. As this is only used during mourning or for condolences, there is no need to Grand Duke Jean to have a set of black-edge stationery printed just for him.
Personally, I really like this black-edge stationery. I think it is a really lovely mourning tradition. I've received a number condolence replies over the years and this is the first to have this black edging. (The reply from Princess Benedikt of Denmark for the passing of her husband had a black border, but it's not quite the same.)
So, I think this is one of my new favorites as I think it's just a really lovely piece of mail.
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