Friday, November 11, 2016

Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein - Birthday reply (2016)

 I was quite excited to come home from a holiday break to find a piece of royal mail waiting for me. It was even more exciting to see that it was from Liechtenstein. This is the first reply I have gotten from Liechtenstein, in reply to the first letter I sent them. I sent my 2nd letter to them just a little bit ago for Christmas. 

I had written in October for Hereditary Princess Sophie's birthday. Hereditary Prince/ss means the same thing as Crown Prince/ss; different countries use different titles. Some countries use neither and have a special title to denote the heir instead (e.g. Prince of Wales, Princess of Asturias, etc.).

The envelope is lovely. It reminds me a lot of Luxembourg's envelopes. It has a simple front, with a postmark and actual stamp, and on the back is the royal's address. 


Of course, the excitement of getting mail from Liechtenstein was doubled when I saw what was inside. 


Inside is a very lovely note. It's gorgeous. I especially love the edges and the embossed coat of arms. (You see a lot of embossed coats of arms on royal mail, but this is nicest I've seen. The paper is really nice and thick, so the coat of armed is raised quite a bit.)

It looks like the card is a pre-made thank you card, with "Many thanks for your kind wishes" pre-printed on it. They then added the mention of her birthday, before Princess Sophie signed it.

I really like how they have this basic card they can use for anything that they were then able to personalize. It certainly must make their life earlier.

Princess Sophie wrote: "Dear Miss Daly" & "Sophie Liechtenstein"

I think this reply is definitely in my top 10.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Queen's 90th Birthday Reply (2016)

Over the years many of you have come to me worried about not having received a reply yet. My response to you has usually been, "You just need to be Patient. It will come; you just need to give it time." And this reply has certainly tested my patience.

I had written Queen Elizabeth II 7 months ago, in honor of her 90th Birthday in April, and today I finally received my reply. It has been a long wait. It started when a friend received his reply, postmarked The Queen's Birthday from Windsor Castle. I remembering thinking, they are really on top of things, and surely my reply can't be too far off.

Well, after the longest response time I've ever had, here it is. Unlike the Queen's usual responses, this is a card (accompanied by a note, apologizing for the delay).




The front of the card features the Queen's Royal Cypher, EIIR, which stands for Elizabeth II Regina. (Regina is Latin for Queen.)



The cards says: 
Buckingham Palace
I send you my grateful thanks for the kind words you have sent to me on the occasion of my ninetieth birthday. 
Elizabeth R
2016
The photo on the inside of the card was released last year to mark the Queen becoming Britain's Longest Reigning Monarch.
With the card was a little note apologizing for the delay. 



The note says: 
Buckingham Palace 
The Queen hopes you will understand that, because of the enormous number of letters, cards and messages she has received in the last few months, it has not been possible to reply to you until now. 
It's a very lovely reply and certainly worth the wait!

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