Prince Charles - Birthday Reply (2016)

Just as I was fretting about getting all my Christmas Letters written in time, this lovely piece of royal mail arrived in my mailbox yesterday.

I could immediately tell that this was from Prince Charles by the red Prince of Wales' Feathers on the back of the envelope. (They also appear on the top of the letter.)

I had written to Prince Charles for his 68th birthday last month. Usually, Clarence House responds with a photo with a typed message on the back. It's a generic birthday thank you, they send out to everyone.

But this year I received a very nice and personal letter from Miss Claudia Spens. (I know other people received the usual photo reply.)

The letter reads:

Dear Miss Daly, 

The Prince of Wales has asked me to thank you for your letter of 3rd November.  

His Royal Highness was grateful for your wonderful words of support and he greatly appreciated the generous nature of your comments regarding Poundbury. This really was most thoughtful of you.  

The Prince of Wales thoroughly enjoyed his recent tour of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. His Royal Highness was overwhelmed by the warm reception and wonderful welcome he received throughout his visit and he appreciated your good wishes.  

The Prince of Wales was touched that you should take the trouble to write as you did. His Royal Highness was heartened by your greetings on the occasion of his 68th birthday and has asked me to send you his sincerest thanks and very best wishes.  

Yours sincerely, 

Claudia Spens

I really liked that the letter mentioned all the things I talked about in my birthday letter to Charles. Often letters can be kind of vague, "Thank you for your kind wishes," but this mentions specifically what I wrote about.

I also think this is one of the longest letters I have received from a royal.

I sent my letter on November 3rd. This came December 1st, so it took just under a month.

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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.

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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.

This Mary McCartney photograph has been released to mark The Queen becoming the longest reigning British Monarch pic.twitter.com/ZrsUlIsB7n

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 9, 2015

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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Queen Paola of Belgium - Birthday Reply (2016)

This arrived yesterday from Belgium. I had written to Queen Paola (King Philippe's mother) last month for her 79th birthday.

The reply came in a very beautiful envelope. The back has her address on the sides in French and Dutch, and the name of the Castle where she lives with her husband, Chateau du Belvedere.

What is most special about the envelope is the inside has this purple tissue paper. I think this is definitely one of my favorite envelopes.

Purple, as you know, is the color of royalty (in certain parts of the world) and Paola uses it for her Royal Cypher. Some of you will complain that this color isn't purple, it's too red. But, did you know what is considered the color purple is different in various parts of the world?

Inside is a typed note, in French. The signature and date are printed on. Queen Paola would have hand-signed one copy, that was then scanned and printed on all the cards.

The message translates to:

Thank you for your kind wishes sent on the occasion of my birthday. 

Your attention really touched me.

Paola 11.9.2016 

The date is her birthday, 11th September. The 9 is written in Roman Numerals.

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Prince Harry - Birthday Reply (2016)

A lovely reply arrived today from Clarence House. Yes, the envelope and stationary say Kensington Palace, and the Cambridge/Harry office is at Kensington Palace. But their mail is handled by Prince Charles's office at Clarence House.

Claudia Spens works for Clarence House, as head of their Correspondence Section.

I had written to Prince Harry earlier this month for his 32nd Birthday. The reply arrived 2.5 weeks after I sent my letter, which is a quicker response time than Harry's birthday reply in 2015 & 2014.

Typically, Clarence House sends out a postcard size photo with a typed message on the back for birthdays. This year I got a letter instead. I have seen many people get the typical postcard-sized photo with message this year. It features the same photo as last year's reply with a similar message.

The letter reads:

Dear Miss Daly,  

Prince Harry has asked me to thank you for your letter of 9th September. It was so kind of you to take the trouble to write as you did and His Royal Highness greatly appreciated your kind wishes on the occasion of his 32nd birthday.  

Prince Harry has also asked me to thank you for your thoughtful and generous words of support for all he does to help the many charities and causes he so passionately cares about. His Royal Highness asked me to send you his warmest thanks and best wishes.  

Yours Sincerely,  

Claudia Spens

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Prince Félix and Princess Claire of Luxembourg - Pregnancy Announcement (2016)

I love getting Royal Mail, and it's especially nice during the long wait of a royal tour.

I had written to Princess Claire and Prince Félix of Luxembourg in July when they announced they were expecting their 2nd child, this Autumn. We haven't been given any more specifics about the baby or the due date (October or late November seems likely).

This reply came 2.5 months later.

The envelope is typical for Luxembourg. The lovely stamp was created by Mariepol Goetzinger, and released in September 2015 as part of a set to celebrate Luxembourg's bio-diversity.

The postmark celebrates the anniversaries of two Museums: the Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art's 10th Anniversary (MUDAM) & Casino Luxembourg's 20th Anniversary.

Inside is a very simple card, typical of what you see from the Luxembourg Royals. A bit interesting that the card doesn't mention why I wrote to the couple.

The card reads:

Their Royal Highnesses Prince Felix and Princess Claire of Luxembourg were so touched by your kind message. They thank you very much. 

Luxembourg, September 2016 

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Princess Beatrice - Birthday Reply (2016)

Quite excited to receive this reply over the weekend.

I wrote to Princess Beatrice early last month for her 28th Birthday. This reply came about a month later, which makes it a few weeks earlier than last year's birthday reply.

The envelope is the usual from the British Royals with Prince Andrew's badge on the back. What is a bit unusual is the Royal Mail's postmark (in black). Usually, letters from the British Royals just feature their red postmark (w/ EIIR and Buckingham Palace). This red postmark is used by all the London-based royal offices.

The black Royal Mail postmark reads the ‘Royal Mail proud to support Stroke Association.’ Stroke Association is the Royal Mail's charity partner and their "Charity of the Year" for September 2014-September 2016. This postmark is used over that two year period to raise awareness for the cause. 

The Queen is Patron of Stroke Association and the Duke of Kent is President. 

The second part of the postmark reads "Royal Mail, Mount Pleasant Mail Centre." The Mount Pleasant Mail Centre is in London and use to be one of the world's largest sorting offices.

The letter is the typical reply from Prince Andrew's Office. The letter was written by Andrew's Private Secretary, Amanda Thirsk, and is hand-signed.

The letter reads:

Buckingham Palace

30th August, 2016

Dear Miss Daly,  

Princess Beatrice has asked me to thank you for your kind letter dated 5th August, 2016. Her Royal Highness was very grateful for the Birthday message.  

Princess Beatrice sends you her best wishes.  

Yours Sincerely,  

Amanda Thirsk LVO

Private Secretary to The Duke of York

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