This lovely reply arrived a bit ago. I had written to King Felipe & Queen Letizia to wish them & their family a Merry Christmas.
This reply is especially exciting as I know the couple don't send out replies to everyone who writes for Christmas. I've done an annual poll and have founded consistently over the years about 50% say they have received a Christmas Reply from them. I have had similar luck with replies 5 out of 8 years.
We know the cards they send out are the same one used for their personal christmas card to family, friends, people related to their work, etc. My theory is that they take whatever left over cards and send those to well-wishers. But, when they run out, they don't print more. (We know other Monarchies will do this as well.)
The front of the envelope is the usual from the couple. The blue circle with "Household of HM the King - Protocol" is printed on, not stamped.
The back of the envelope features the King's Coat of Arms in Red.
Inside is a folded card. This card is pretty identical to past years' replies, except for the change in photo & message. The front of the card features the King's Coat of Arms.
The back of the card features King Felipe & Queen Letizia's joint monogram in red.
Inside on the left side is a photo of Princess Leonor & Princess Sofia.
The right side inside the card has a bi-lingual typed message. Along with a copy of a handwritten note and signatures that are printed onto the card.
Each year they are at least two versions of this card. One with the handwritten note in English and one with the note in Spanish, which they send out according to the language of the recipient. But I have seen at least 4 versions this year, and I've noticed they have different handwriting. So, my theory is each of the royals wrote on of the messages.
https://gertsroyalreplies.blogspot.com/2023/03/variations-of-spain-royals-christmas.html
When they run out of one version, they will start sending out the other to everyone, which is why I received the card with the Spanish handwritten message.
The card translated, says:
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2023
Very Thankful, with Affection,
Felipe R Letizia R
Leonor, Princess of Asturias Sofia, Infanta of Spain
The other versions of the card are the same except for the handwritten message. As each handwritten message is in a different handwriting, I assume each was written by a member of the Royal Family. You can find the text of the 4 versions below. I looked through various writing samples to identify which belongs to each royal.
Spanish (#1, Photo released for Press) (King Felipe)
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| Photo from Casa de S.M. el Rey |
- Muy afectuosamente y con nuestros mejores deseos
- Translation: With love and our best wishes
- Muy agradecido por la felicitación
- Translation: Very grateful for the congratulations
Spanish (#3 which I received) (Princess Sofia)
- Muy agradecidos. Con afecto
- Translation: Very Thankful. With Love
English (#1) (Queen Letizia)
- With our sincere gratitude and affection,
Back when there was just two versions, I believe Felipe did the Spanish and Queen Letizia did the English.
