Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Princess Stéphanie of Monaco - Christmas Reply (2019)

A lovely reply arrived yesterday from Monaco. I had written to Princess Stéphanie a number of times over the years, including Christmas last year. This is the first time I've gotten a reply, which makes this extra special.

The front of the envelope looks pretty much like the others from the Monaco Royals. One thing that is interesting, is instead of left justifying my address, it is centered. And there are some other little things that make this different than Prince Albert & Princess Charlene's envelopes. Each office handles their own mail. So, sometimes, the formatting of the address is one way you can tell which office the reply comes from.

The stamp is of Prince Charles III of Monaco. And was released from 2018 to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth.

The postmark is to celebrate the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. Monaco's post offices rotate through postmarks every few days. This postmark is one of the postmarks that we see every year, usually in December the week or two before Christmas. This postmark would have stamped on everything mailed in Monaco during the few days the postmark was running.



Inside is a lovely card. The front of the card features a wreath with a red bow, with the words "Best Wishes" written underneath in French.


Inside the card is a typed message and Stephanie's signature printed on.


The message is in French and English, and reads: 

Best wishes for a Happy New Year
Stéphanie de Monaco


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Monday, December 30, 2019

Prince Guillaume & Princess Stéphanie of Luxembourg - Christmas Reply (2019)

A lovely reply arrived while I was out of town for the Holidays. I had written to Prince Guillaume & Princess Stéphanie of Luxembourg to wish them a Merry Christmas.

This is extra special as this is my first reply for Christmas 2019! You can see a list of all the royals we wrote to for Christmas 2019 here. 

The envelope is the typical from the Luxembourg Royals. The Luxembourg Royals are one of a handful to use real stamps on their envelopes. These stamps feature Grand Duke Henri. The bottom left of the envelope says "Service of the Grand Duke."



The back of the envelope features a Luxembourg blue crown.


Inside is a handmade Christmas card made by the Foundations Autisme Luxembourg, which Grand Duchess Maria Teresa is patron of. The card is from a set sold by the charity. The front features a lovely star design along with the message "Happy Holidays" in German, one of Luxembourg's official languages. 

The card is made of heavy cardstock and the design on the front is layered, so the card has a nice weight and texture. 


The inside of the card is blank. The charity did this to allow people to write in their own message. Guillaume & Stéphanie instead included an insert. This allows them to send out replies in multiple languages. 

Inside of the Card. 
The insert is the typical flat card from the Luxembourg Royals.
Insert
The card says:
Their Royal Hignesses the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess wish to thank you for your kind greetings and send you their best wishes for the New Year.  
Luxembourg, December 2019 
The back of the card is blank, except for a stick from the charity. 
The sicker says: 
Made by people with autism

Foundation Autisme Luxembourg
Autisme@fal.lu
(+352) 269 111-1 

We carry all types of cards

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Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Sending your Condolences for the Passing of Ari Behn

Ari Behn, the ex-husband of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, passed away on December 25th at age 47. He left behind 3 daughters with Märtha Louise: Maud, Leah & Emma Behn. If you would like, you can send a letter of condolence to his family.

You can find general info on writing to the Royals here. Along with some specifics on writing a letter of condolence here.

 Who to write to: 
Even though they are divorced I think it would be very appropriate to send a letter of condolence to Princess Märtha Louise and/or her daughters.

 I could either address your letter/card to:
  • HH Princess Märtha Louise
    • & mention in your letter that you are sending your condolences to her and her daughters.
  • Maud, Leah & Emma Behn
  • The Family of Ari Behn
The Norway royals don't regularly reply. So, I really have no idea if they would reply or what it would look like. 

 Note: When referred to in English, Princess Märtha Louise is an HH (Her Highness), not an HRH (Her Royal Highness).

 The Address: 
Det Kongelige Hoff
Det Kongelige Slott
Postboks 1 Vika
0010 Oslo, NORWAY
When to write: 
Don't feel like you need to write the minute you hear the news. Give yourself a few days to reflect, see what information is being released by the Palace, family, media, etc.

I think anytime within 2 weeks after the passing or shortly after the funeral is acceptable.

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Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg- Birthday Reply (2019)

A lovely reply arrived this week from Luxembourg. I had written to Prince Guillaume last month to wish him a happy birthday.

The front of the envelope features two lovely stamps of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. The stamp was released in 2015, to mark the 15th Anniversary of Grand Duke Henri's enthronement.



The back of the envelope features a blue crown.



Inside is a flat card with a typed message. This is fairly typical of the Luxembourg royals.


The card reads:

His Royal Highness, The Hereditary Grand Duke, greatly appreciates your kind wishes on his birthday and sincerely thanks you. 

Luxembourg, November 2019

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Monday, December 9, 2019

Archduke Maximilian (Belgium) - Birth Reply (2019)

A lovely reply arrived today from Belgium. I had written to Prince Amedeo and Princess Elisabetta in September to congratulate them on the birth of their 2nd child, Archduke Maximilian.

The Purple Crown/ Palais de Bruxelles envelope is one of the most common used by the Belgium Royals. The Royal Palace of Brussels is where King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and many of the Belgium Royals have their office.

This reply is not actually from Amedeo & Elisabetta, but Amedeo's mother, Princess Astrid. This is understandable, as she is a working royal and has her own staff, and they don't.

One thing I love about the envelope is my address has been typed in a pretty cursive font. We see this occasionally from the Belgium Royals.


Inside the envelope is a flat card & photo. The flat card is fairly typical of the Belgium Royals. The signature is printed on. 


The flat card says: 
Royal Palace of Brussels

September 2019  

My husband, our children and I would like to thank you warmly for your mark of affection and your delicate attention on the occasion of the birth of our grandson, Maximilian.  

Astrid

The photo is of little Archduke Maximilian with his name and birthday printed on. 


On the back of the photo says "Maximilian small text black final" in dutch along with some jibberish letters and numbers. 

 

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Friday, December 6, 2019

Congratulating Prince Guillaume & Princess Stéphanie on their Pregnancy Announcement


The Basics:
We have a lot of helpful general information on writing to the Royals under our "How to" tab. This post will just cover some specifics about writing for today's announcement.

The Address: 
Palais Grand-Ducal
B.P. 331
L-2013 LUXEMBOURG

There are a lot of ways you can refer to the couple, including:

  • TRH Prince Guillaume & Princess Stéphanie 
  • Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume & Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie 
  • The Hereditary Grand Duke & Hereditary Grand Duchess 
  • etc. 
What you use is a matter of personal preference and how formal you want to be.

When to write?
You don't need to worry about getting your letter/card out the same day as the announcement. I think a good rule is to try to send out your congratulations within 2 weeks of the announcement. 

Will they reply?
Yes, I would expect so. The Luxembourg Royals usually reply with a flat card printed for the occasion. I expect it will be similar to Prince Felix and Princess Claire's pregnancy or birth reply for Prince Liam. 

And I would expect a longer response time than usual given that the Palace will have to deal with Pregnancy and Christmas mail all at once, and both are big occasions to write to the royals. 
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Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Christmas Replies (2019)

Replies I Have Received
Replies I Have Sent Out
  • Black - I have received a Christmas Reply from them every year I have written
  • Red - I haven't always/ever gotten a Christmas reply from them
  • Blue - This is the first time I've written to them for Christmas
UK
  • Prince Edward & Countess Sophie
Denmark 
  • Prince Joachim and Princess Marie
Liechtenstein 
  • Prince Hans Adams & Princess Marie
  • Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie
Monaco
  • Princess Caroline
Norway 
  • King Harald & Queen Sonja
Spain 
  • King Juan Carlos & Queen Sofia
Sweden
  • King Carl Gustaf & Queen Silvia
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Sunday, December 1, 2019

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium - 18th Birthday Reply

A lovely reply arrived this week from Belgium. I had written to Princess Elisabeth for her 18th Birthday in October.

The Belgium Royals have quite a few different envelopes that they use. But, this is one of the most common. The front of the envelope features a purple crown with "Palais de Bruxelles" written underneath. The back is blank. The Palace of Brussels is where state functions are held and the King and Queen have their offices there.



As this is an extra special birthday, this birthday reply is extra special. Inside is a lovely card, that folds out into 4 panels. (The back is blank.) I really like that they formated the card so that you can see everything from one side. It makes it much easier to display the card.



The first panel, which also acts as the cover of the card, features a red border and Princess Elisabeth's monogram. The front of the card is similar to her parent's Christmas card.



The 2nd panel features a lovely photo of Princess Elisabeth. The photo was taken by her father, King Philippe and is used on a commemorative stamp released for the Princess's 18th birthday.


The 3rd panel of the card features a typed message with Elisabeth's signature printed on. The message is in Dutch, French and German, Belgium's 3 official languages. 


The card reads: 
Thank you very much for your warm wishes on the occasion of my eighteenth birthday. 

Elisabeth  

Her Royal Highness Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant

The 4th panel features a lovely photo of Princess Elisabeth that was taken at Château de Laeken, the King and Queen's home, this summer. The photo is from a set released for Elisabeth's 18th birthday.


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