Monday, July 8, 2019

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge - Birthday Reply (2019)

A lovely reply arrived today from the UK. I had written to Prince William & Duchess Kate for Princess Charlotte's birthday.

The envelope is usual from the British Royals.



The back of the envelope features the black crown/Kensington Palace that is used by the Cambridges.



Inside is a letter and a postcard-sized photocard.

The photocard features a lovely photo of Princess Charlotte taken by Duchess Kate. This is from the
set of official photos that were released for Charlotte's birthday.


The back of the card features the usual sort of message. It is similar to past years, but they change it up slightly every year. The top of the card features the black crown/Kensington Palace. This was added to the Cambridge & Sussexs cards in January, so this is the first time we've seen it on Princess Charlotte's birthday reply. 


The card reads:
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appreciated your kind thought in writing to Princess Charlotte as you did on the occasion of her fourth birthday.  

This was greatly appreciated by Their Royal Highnesses who send you their best wishes.
Included with the card is a letter from Claudia Spens, head of the correspondence section at Clarence House. In my birthday letter to Princess Charlotte, I had also sent my congratulations to Duchess Kate on being appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order by the Queen. I had sent my anniversary wishes to the Cambridges in my birthday letter for Prince Louis, and received a letter in reply. But as I had written & sent that letter before their anniversary, when this honor was announced, I wasn't able to include my congratulations to Kate for her Royal Victorian Order.



The letter reads:
Dear Miss Daly,  
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have asked me to thank you for your kind letter of 2nd.  
Their Royal Highnesses are grateful to you for taking the trouble to write as you did and were touched by your kind words of support regarding Her Royal Highness's recent appointment as Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO). It really was most thoughtful of you. You may be interested to know that the order of chivalry was established in 1896 by Queen Victoria to recognise personal service to the monarch. 
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have asked me to send you their warmest thanks and best wishes.  

Yours sincerely,  

Claudia Spens

Clarence House's annual report reveals that they received 123,303 letters/cards from well-wishers from April 2018-March 2019.  (Clarence House answers all of Charles, Camilla, The Cambridges & Sussexs mail.) This is a big increase from previous years:

2018-2019:   123,303
2017-2018:   53,716
2016-2017:   39,783
2015-2016:   43,036

To deal with the increase in mail, Clarence House has hired more staff for their Correspondence Section. They now have equal to 5.0 full-time staff members.

Back to Replies - Main Page