Crown Prince Frederik - Birthday Reply (2021)

A lovely reply arrived this week from Denmark. I had written to Crown Prince Frederik for his birthday in May. 

The front of the envelope is the usual. 

The back of the envelope features a crown with the address for Amalienborg written underneath. This is the envelope the couple has been using for years. 

Inside is a flat card. This is the same card I've received for a number of Crown Prince Frederik's past birthday. But, what is interesting is that the couple redesigned their cards in 2017. And this card features their old style. The reason is for things like birthdays, The Crown Prince Couple print off a bunch of cards that can be used for multiple years. And, so this is just a leftover. They will switch over to the new design next time they need more. 

However, Frederik's Birthday Reply last year did feature the new design, as they printed off a unique card for his 50th birthday. 

The cards says: 

His Royal Highness The Crown Prince has asked me to thank you for your kind congratulations on the occasion of his birthday

Cheif of the Court of Their Royal Highnesses The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark

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Prince Philip - Birthday Reply

A lovely reply arrived today from the UK. I had written to Prince Philip in June to wish him a happy 99th birthday. This response came a little later than most of Prince Philip's past birthday reply, but understandable due to the pandemic.

The front of the envelope is the usual from the British Royals. 

The back of the envelope feature's Prince Philip's badge. 

Inside is a letter from Prince Philip's Correspondence Secretary, Suzy Lethbridge. Prince Philip's mail used to be handle by his Assistant Equerry. But when he retired, Prince Philip reduced his staff and his Assistant Equerry went to work for Prince Andrew. 

The letter is similar to Prince Philip's past birthday replies. He does change up the message on the letter from year to year, but the messages often get repeated. This year's message is the same as his 2016 reply.  

The letter says: 

Buckingham Palace

July 2020 

Dear Miss Daly, 

 

Prince Philip has asked me to say how much he appreciated your good wishes for his birthday. 

Your Sincerely, 

Suzy Lethbridge 

Correspondence Secretary to H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh 

Prince Philip's office sends out the same letter to everyone who writes for an occasion. This is why only the month and year is given for the date and there is nothing printed on the letter personalizing this to me.  However, this is the first birthday reply I have gotten from Prince Philip that has "Dear Miss Daly" written in.  It's only a little thing, but it is nice to have that personalization. 

I do wonder why the change now, after years of not personalizing the letter? I know from experience that the more overwhelmed an office is by mail the less personalized they tend to be. So, could it be they have more time on their hands? Less mail than past years?

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Queen Margrethe of Denmark's 80th Birthday

A lovely reply arrived today from Denmark. I had written to Queen Margrethe for her 80th birthday in April. The response time is about 3.5 months, which is the longest response times I've gotten from the Queen Margrethe. But, not unexpected with the current pandemic. 

The front of the envelope is the usual from Queen Margrethe. The Postmark has the Royal Crown over Amalienborg, the main Danish Palace where her mail is sent from. 

The back of the envelope features the Royal Crown of Denmark. The envelope paper has a lovely edge, which you can sort of see. 

Inside is a letter from one of Queen Margrethe's Aides-de-camp.  The Denmark royals don't usually do special replies for milestone events. So, I was expecting something similar to her part replies, which is what I got. This letter is almost identical to Queen Margrethe's past birthday. But, the one change they did make, is this mentions that this is her 80th birthday. 

The paper has a lovely textured edge. 

The letter says: 

Dear Miss Gertrude A. Daly

 

Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to express to you Her sincere thanks for your kind greetings on the occasion of Her Majesty's 80th birthday. 

Yours sincerely

[Signature]

Aide-de-camp

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King Albert of Belgium - Birthday Reply (2020)

A lovely reply arrived today from Belgium. I had written to King Albert last month to wish him a happy birthday. 

The Belgium Royals have a number of different envelopes that they use. This version is the most common for King Albert & Queen Paola, with a purple crown and Belvédère [Castle], the name of their home, on the front. 

What is unusual however is my address is handwritten on the envelope. I have gotten a number of replies over the years with handwritten envelopes, but this is the first time from Belgium. 

Inside is a flat card, similar to past birthday replies. 

The card says: 

His Majesty King Albert II warmly thanks you for the kind wishes sent on the occasion of His 86th birthday.

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Condolence reply for Elizabeth-Ann de Massy

A lovely reply arrived today from Monaco. I had written to Prince Albert to send him and his family my deepest condolences on the passing of his cousin Elizabeth de Massy last month.  

The envelope is the usual from the Monaco Royals. Although this features no monogram. The postmark says, in French, "Women’s Rights Committee, the Prince’s Government, Promotion and Protection." The Monaco Post Service has lovely postmarks. They usually rotate every week between a special postmark for an event and their standard postmarks. This postmark would have been stamped on all the mail sent in Monaco at that time.  

As I said previously, I moved in March. I had written my letter of condolence using my new address. But what is interesting is this was sent to my old address. The Monaco Royals store addresses of people who write in a database. (Other monarchies do this as well.) And so, when replying had pulled my old address off their database. 

This isn't surprising since the same thing happened last time I moved. Some monarchies note the address change right away, others take a while. My strategy has just been to include in green "New Address" on my envelope. 

Inside is a flat card, with a printed message. The card features a black border for mourning. 

The card translates to:

TSH The Prince and Princess of Monaco

and their children

Mr. Jean-Léonard Taubert de Massey and his son

Miss Mélanie-Antoinette de Massy de Lusignan

Baron Christian de Massy

Mrs. Leticia de Massy and her children

Mr. Brice Gelable de Massy

Mr and Mrs. Sébastien Knecht de Massy and their children

HRH The Princess of Hanover, her children and grandchildren 

HSH Princess Stéphanie of Monaco and her children

The Noghes family and the Polignac family

Deeply touched by the kind attention that you showed them following the passing of

Mrs Elizabeth-Ann de Massy

They express their feelings of deep gratitude

The people listed on the card are Elizabeth's family. Prince Albert, Princess Charlene and their children are listed first, and then the rest are listed based on their relationship to Elizabeth. 

Children: 

Mr. Jean-Léonard Taubert de Massey

Miss Mélanie-Antoinette de Massy de Lusignan

Siblings:

Baron Christian de Massy

Nieces & Nephews:

Mrs. Leticia de Massy 

Mr. Brice Gelable de Massy

Mr. Sébastien Knecht de Massy 

Cousins: 

Prince Albert, Princess Charlene, Princess Stephanie, Princess Caroline

Extended Family: 

Noghès Family

Polignac Family

---

This reply came fairly quickly, just over a month since I wrote. 

Each monarchy is making their own decisions about how to handle mail during the pandemic. But in general, things have been slower than usual. This is my first reply in over a month. 

I would be prepared for long response times. 

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Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg - Birthday Reply (2020)

A lovely reply arrived this week from Luxembourg. I had written to Grand Duke Henri in April for his 65th birthday. 

On the front of the envelope are two stamps of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume that were released to mark his 30th birthday in 2011.

The postmark is a special postmark to celebrate the birth of Prince Charles of Luxembourg. It features the Grand-Ducal Crown in one corner and "Vive le Prince" (Long Live the Prince) in the opposite corner. 

The back of the envelope features the Grand-Ducal Crown.

Inside are two cards. The first card is the usual sort of flat card with a typed message. 

The card says: 

Luxembourg April 2020

All my thanks for your kind wishes on the occasion of my birthday. 

Henri

The date on the card corresponds with Henri's birthday, and not the date the card was actually sent. 

The other card is a photo of Grand Duke Henri, that was taken by Lola Velasco. I am not 100% sure when this photo was taken, but it is over a decade old. & possibly taken just after Henri's accession. Besides throwback photos for anniversaries or condolences, I think this is the oldest photo I've gotten from the Royals. 

This is only the 2nd time I have gotten a photo from the Luxembourg Royals. The first time was for Grand Duke Henri's birthday last year. 

We can tell from the back of the card, that is was created by the German Souvenir company, Creation Gross (Gross means big in German).  The company creates souvenirs that they then sell to gift shops, tourist attractions, etc. It is interesting that the Luxembourg Palace bought postcards from a 3rd party, instead of just creating photo cards themselves, or contacting a printer directly. 

I have received a postcard before from the Liechtenstein Royals, but that is something they created themselves. 

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Prince Charles & Duchess Camilla 15th Wedding Anniversary Reply (2020)

A lovely reply arrived from the UK today. I had written to Prince Charles & Duchess Camilla in April to wish them a happy 15th wedding anniversary. 

The front of the envelope is the usual for the British Royals, featuring the red postmark from the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace.  On top of that is a postmark from the Mount Pleasant Mail Center, where most international mail in the London Area is processed before heading to Heathrow Airport. 

That postmark includes the message, "Royal Mail supporting youth mental health with Action for Children." Action for Children has been the Royal Mail's official charity to support since 2017. 

The back of the envelope features the Prince of Wales feathers. 

Inside is a letter from Claudia Spens, head of the correspondence section at Clarence House. The letter thanks me for my anniversary wishes and the good wishes I had sent following Prince Charles's coronavirus recovery. 

One interesting this is the letter says May 22nd, but the envelope is postmarked over 2 weeks later on June 6th. 

I also noticed that the letter doesn't use the term COVID-19, which is how Clarence House has been referring to it on social media, instead, Claudia used the more informal term "Coronavirus." 

The letter says: 

Dear Miss Daly,  

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall have asked me to thank you for your letter of 9th April, which you so kindly sent on the occasion of their 15th Wedding Anniversary.  

Their Royal Highnesses are most grateful to you for taking the trouble to write as you did. The Prince of Wales was enormously touched by your kind words of support following his recovery from Coronavirus.  

Their Royal Highnesses have asked me to send you their very best wishes and they hope that, at this difficult time, you and your family are keeping safe and well.  

Yours Sincerely,

Claudia Spens 

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