Friday, September 25, 2020

Congratulate Princess Eugenie & Jack Brooksbank on their Pregnancy

If you would like to congratulate Princess Eugenie & Jack Brooksbank on the announcement they are expecting their 1st child, you can write to them at:

Duke of York's Office
Buckingham Palace
London SW1A 1AA
UNITED KINGDOM

Prince Andrew's office has always handled Princess Eugenie & Princess Beatrice's mail. We know Prince Andrew is supposed to be moving his office out of Buckingham Palace at some point. But, the royal website still lists this as his mailing address and we have still seen some mail sent from there this year. 

We haven't seen many replies from Prince Andrew's office in the last few months. But, I expect they are just slow due to reduced staff & funding, and COVID. 

How you style Eugenie & Jack on the envelope and letter is up to you and how formal you want to be. But some options are: 

Envelope: 
HRH Princess Eugenie & Mr. Brooksbank
Mr & Mrs. Brooksbank
Princess Eugenie & Jack Brooksbank

Dear Line: 
Your Royal Highness & Mr. Brooksbank
Eugenie & Jack

Note: Pre-tradition, Eugenie dropped her father's "of York" territorial designation after her wedding. (Although you will see it used accidentally on occasion.)

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Princess Anne - 70th Birthday Reply (2020)

A lovely reply arrived from the UK last week. I had written to Princess Anne in August to wish her a happy 70th Birthday. 

The front of the envelope is the usual sort from the British Royals. But what is a little unusual is the envelope is handwritten with the address indenting a little with each line. 


For Anne's special birthday, her office has created a card. The front of the card feature's Anne's coat of arms. The back of the card includes a copyright for the photographer, John Swannell, who took the photo featured on the inside. 


The inside of the card features a photo of Princess Anne along with a typed message. This photo was never officially released by the Palace but was likely taken at the same time as the photos released on her birthday, also taken by John Swannell. Swannell has taken the official portraits for Anne's 40th, 50th, and 60th birthday. 



The inside of the card says: 
The Princess Royal appreciated your kind thoughts sent on the occasion of her 70th Birthday, and sends you her thanks and best wishes for the future. 

Back to Replies - Main Page

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Duchess Camilla - Birthday Reply (2020)

A lovely reply arrived yesterday from the UK. I had written to Duchess Camilla in July to wish her a happy birthday. 

The front of the envelope is a little different than the normal British replies. We know from past experience that this tells us the reply came from Camilla's staff, opposed to the correspondence section at Clarence House. 

And that is one of the ways to tell if Camilla's signature is real or auto-penned. If Camilla hand-signed something, the envelope will look like this and come from her staff. If the reply was sent by the Correspondence Section, then it is an auto-pen signature. They always send out a mix of both for Camilla's birthday.

The address is written in a very lovely way, where each line is indented. Camilla's staff are the only ones I have ever seen to do this. And at the bottom is an International "Tracked and Signed" Registered Mail sticker. (Obviously, if you are in the UK, you would have a different registered mail sticker.)


I wasn't asked to sign, for the letter. I think I had to sign for the first few pieces of mail I've gotten from Camilla. But I haven't been asked to sign for something like this in years.

The back of the envelope features Camilla's badge in green. This indicates the reply came from Birkhall, Charles & Camilla's home in Scotland. Pretty much anything from Camilla sent from Birkhall will be hand-signed. (When sent from Clarence House, Camilla's badge is blue.)


Instead of the usual photo card for Duchess Camilla's birthday, I received a letter. The letter does not specifically mention that I had written for Camilla's birthday. But, mentions other things I had written about in my letter. Mainly, I had talked about Camilla guest editing the Emma Barnett Show. (Sadly the episode is no longer available online.)


The letter says: 

Birkhall

11th August 2020

Dear Gertrude, 

Thank you for your kind letter about my recent Guest Edit of the Emma Barnett Show. I am so glad you enjoyed the programme. It was a wonderful experience, and I was delighted that so many of my charities, including SafeLives, were able to participate. 

I do hope you and your family have been safe and well during this challenging time. 

With best wishes

Camilla

I've gotten a lot of questions over the years about what I write in my letters. And, as I happen to have this letter saved on my computer, here is an excerpt:

I very much enjoyed your guest edit of The Emma Barnett Show. It was very enlightening to hear more about your patronages and their work. I found Tanya’s story of her escape from domestic abuse particularly moving. We have been hearing that domestic violence is likely increasing during this pandemic. And, so I am very glad to see you are making this issue a continued priority. And I think hearing a survivor’s story helps to bring this issue and its importance to life. 

I also wanted to congratulate you on your new patronage, SafeLives. I think you will be a great champion of their work. 


Back to Replies - Main Page