Prince Louis of Wales - Birthday Reply (2023)

I received this lovely reply from the UK a few weeks ago. I had written to wish Prince Louis a happy 5th birthday. 

The envelope is the usual from the Waleses. And features the usual postmark. 

The reply is the usual photocard for the Wales. The front features a photo of Prince Louis that was released by the Palace for Louis's birthday. The photo was taken by Millie Pilkington in Windsor. 

The back of the card features a typed message. 

The Wales have not changed their stationary since King Charles's accession. The coronet at the top of the card features the coronet of a child of the heir apparent, that William and Kate continue to use. 

The message says: 

Thank you for the very thoughtful message which you sent for Prince Louis' fifth birthday. 

Prince Louis had a fantastic day, and your message was greatly appreciated by The Prince and Princess who send you their very best wishes. 

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King Philippe & Queen Mathilde of Belgium - Christmas Reply (2021)

I received this Christmas reply a few years ago from King Philippe & Queen Mathilde. The couple replied with their usual Christmas card. 

The front of the card is simple, it has a red border with the couple's joint monogram. You have Queen Mathilde's M, interlocked with an F & P for King Philippe. The F & P stand for the different spellings of King Philippe's name in the 3 official languages of Belgium:

• French: Philippe
• Dutch: Filip
• German: Philippe

Inside the card left side has a message. The message is in Belgium's 3 official languages (Dutch, French, German) plus English.  The signatures are printed on and the same as recent years. The 4 children's names are arranged in order of age. The date reflects the new year. 

The card says: 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Philippe Mathilde

Elisabeth Gabriel Emmanuel Eleonore

2022

The right inside side of the cared features a family photo. The photo was taken by Bas Bogaerts in the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken.

L-R: Emmanuel, Eleonore, Mathilde, Philippe, Elisabeth, Gabriel

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Queen Mathilde of Belgium - Birthday Reply (2021)

I received this year a few years ago, but never wrote a post about it. 

The envelope is one of the usual from the Palace, a purple crown with Palais de Bruxelles underneath. It matches the card. 

Inside is a flat card, this is the same as past birthday replies from Queen Mathilde, but the message changes. 

The card is in french, the translation says: 

The warm wishes that you were kind enough to address to Her Majesty the Queen on the occasion of her birthday gave her great pleasure.

The Queen expresses her sincere thanks for this appreciated attention. 

Included with the card was a photo of Queen Mathilde that was released for her birthday. 

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Queen Paola of Belgium - Birthday Reply (2020)

I received this rely a few years ago but never posted it. I had written to Queen Paola for her birthday. 

The envelope is one of the usual used from Belvédère, featuring a purple crown with the word Belvédère underneath to match the card. 

The reply is the usual flat card, although the message will vary each year. The faded print of the card is how I received it. 

The reply says: 

Belvedere

Her Majesty Queen Paola thanks you wholeheartedly for the kind wishes sent  on the occasion of her 83rd Birthday  

September 2020

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Sarah, Duchess of York - Surgery Reply (2023)

I had written to Duchess Sarah in June to send her my best wishes following her recent cancer diagnosis and surgery. I received this lovely reply this week. 

The envelope is a large yellow envelope. It features the postmark from Windsor Castle, minus King Charles's Cypher. This is the first time I've received this postmark since the change in reign & postmark. 

Important to note, Duchess Sarah continues to use the Sovereign Grant's PPI number W7047 to pay for postage.

The back of the envelope is blank. 

Inside is a piece of cardstock in the shape of tag, with a purple ribbon. The front of the reply features a photo of a flower, likely taken by Duchess Sarah herself. 2018 was the first time I received this type of reply from Duchess Sarah. The photo is glued onto the card and was not directly printed onto the cardstock. 

The back of the card features a handwritten message, "Thank you, Love Sarah." Along with a quote by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, who was an ancient roman philosopher. The quote says, "Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness."  The quote was printed on copy paper and cut out and pasted onto the card. Other people who wrote for this same occasion received different photos, ribbon colors and quotes. 

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Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg & Nicolas Bagory - Wedding Reply (2023)

I received this reply a little while ago from Luxembourg. I had written to Princess Alexandra and Nicolas after their wedding in April. 

The reply had the usual envelope from the Luxembourg royals.

Inside is a flat card, similar to the ones usually send by the Luxembourg Royals. The card is dated April 2023, to coincide with the date of their wedding, not when the cards were actually sent out.  

 

The card says: 

Luxembourg, April 2023

Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra and Mr Nicolas Bagory very much appreciated you congratulations on the occasion of their marriage and send you their best thanks. 

Also included was a photo of the couple that was taken by Sophie Margue last year. The photo was released to mark the couple's engagement. 

The back of the card has terms of use for the photo. 

Translated the message on the back of the photo says: 

Terms of use of this photo:

• This photo is the exclusive property of the Maison du Grand-Duc.
• Any modification, transformation or adaptation is prohibited'
• Any provision to one or more third parties is prohibited.
• Any commercial transaction of this photo or resale is prohibited.   
• The user undertakes to use this photo which does not contract with the principles of human dignity and respect for the person. and to notify us, for agreement, of each use that will be made of it.

© Maison du Grand-Duc / Sophie Margue

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Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein - 30th Wedding Anniversary Reply

I received this lovely reply last week from Liechtenstein. The front of the envelope is the usual from the Liechtenstein Royals. I had written to Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie to congratulate them on their 30th Wedding Anniversary in July. 

Inside is the usual flat card from the couple. They used the same card for multiple events. The part "Many thanks for your kind wishes," is the generic phrase, and then they add the 2nd part is added after and is a varying message 

The card is their standard pre-made thank you card, with "Many thanks for your kind wishes" pre-printed on it. They then added the mention of their anniversary before the couple signed. We see this same basic card used for a variety of events. 

I really love the rough edges and the embossed coat of arms. You see a lot of embossed coat of arms on royal mail, but Liechtenstein has the nicest. The paper is really nice and thick, so the coat of armed is raised quite a bit. I scanned it on a black mat so you can see the textured edge. This appears to be real signatures. The signatures does not match other replies I have, or other people's replies for the same event. 

The card says: 

Many Thanks for your kind wishes

on the occasion of our wedding anniversary

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Liechtenstein Royals Envelope (2016-Present)

The Liechtenstein Royals use the same envelope most of the time. 

Usual 

The Lichtenstein's usual envelope has a blank front. The palace uses real stamps and usually they are recently released stamps. But sometimes to you will see older stamps if they need a small domination. 

The postmark is stamped on at the local post office and unlike the british monarchy isn't special for the royals. The center part of the postmark is the "day - month - year - hour" of the postmark. The top part of the postmark often says, "9494 Schaan." Schann is one of Liechtenstein's Municipality just north of Vaduz Castle. "9494" is the postcode for that post office. 

The back of the envelope has the address of Castle Vaduz. 

Mourning Envelope

The envelope has a black edge for mourning. And like their normal envelope features a stamp. 

 The postmark features Vaduz Castle, the Liechtenstein Royal's official residence.

The back of the envelope features a Crown along with the name of the Royal's main residence Vaduz. 

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Prince Edward & Duchess Sophie's Mystery Reply (2022)

I received this reply from the UK back at the beginning on the year. I delayed in writing up a blog post on this reply because I was unsure which if my two recent cards this was replying to. 

I had written to Edward & Sophie in late 2022 for both Queen Elizabeth's death and for Christmas. And it is unclear from the message which of the two events this is for. I had hoped that I would eventually get a 2nd reply which would clarify. 

The front of the envelope is the usual from the couple. The Edinburghs Office staff is split between St. James's Palace in London and Bagshot Park in Bagshot. The Edinburghs are the only British Working Royals who mail is handled full time by an office outside of London. As a result their mail is not processed through the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace and does not have that postmark. 

This postmark is a special one that historically was used for a number of royal residences. But nowadays, I just see it used by Bagshot Park. The only change to the postmark from Queen Elizabeth II's reign to now, was the swapping of the cypher in the lower left of the envelope.  

The back of the envelope features the couple's joint Coat of Arms. 

Inside is a letter written by a member of the Edinburgh's staff. At the time the letter was written, Prince Edward had not yet been given the Duke of Edinburgh Dukedom, so the couple were still the Earl and Countess of Wessex. 

The letter does not make any mention about what occasion I had written for. The Edinburghs/Wessex's office rarely replies. I only have a handful of replies from them over the years. So, I am hesitant to think this is a Christmas reply. I have only received one Christmas Reply from them in all my years of writing. 

I know the couple had a pre-made card they sent out following Queen Elizabeth's death. But it could be they ran out of those cards and decided not to print off more. And so, just replied with a letter.

The letter says: 

6th January 2023 

Dear Miss Daly, 

Thank you for your recent letter with kind words to the Earl and Countess of Wessex. Their Royal Highnesses send you their best wishes. 

 [Signature]

Household of TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex

While the letter does not give the name of the staff member who signed the letter, the signature is similar to my 2019 reply from the couple signed by Jackie Phipps, their Secretarial Assistant.  

Leave a Comment about whether you think this reply is for Christmas or Queen Elizabeth's death. 

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Queen Camilla - Coronation Reply (2023)

This lovely reply arrived today from the UK. I had written to Queen Camilla to congratulate her on the Coronation. 

In the past, I had usually always written to King Charles & Queen Camilla jointly. But I've noticed they often have separate replies, so I decided to write to them separately. But otherwise I will continue to write to couples jointly. 

The envelope was the usual from the couple, featuring King Charles's coat of arms on the back. 

Inside is a folded card, similar to the ones Queen Elizabeth II sent on special occasions. 

The front of the card features King Charles & Queen Camilla's joint cypher. There are two Cs for Charles & Camilla and a large R for Rex/Regina, which means King/Queen in Latin. 

The design around it is taken from the Coronation Invitation designed by Andrew Jamieson, a heraldic artist and manuscript illuminator. This same front is used for King Charles's Coronation Reply. 

Inside is a photo of Queen Camilla taken by Hugo Burnand as part of the official coronation photos. On the right side is a typed message along with a printed on signature. 

The message says: 

I was deeply touched by your most kind and thoughtful  message following our Coronation. I am enormously grateful to everyone who took part in the celebrations, and particularly appreciate that you do generously took the the time to write to me on this very special occasion.  

With my best wishes, 

Camilla R 

The back of the card is blank except for a note: "Image by Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2023."

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