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. 

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