The Cambridges - Christmas Reply (2016)

A lovely reply came from the Cambridges. It's the typical reply from the Cambridges. The photo on the front of the card was from the Cambridges trip to Canada (attending Children's party at Government House in Victoria, September 29th).

The photo was taken by Royal Photographer, Chris Jackson. Although it is miscaptioned on the back of the card.

The typed message on the back is the exact same as their card last year.

The message reads: 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and Princess Charlotte are so grateful to you for the kind message you sent at Christmas and send you their best wishes for a very Happy New Year. 

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King Philippe & Queen Mathilde - Christmas Reply (2016)

I received a reply from Belgium, while I was away on holiday.

The envelope features King Philippe & Queen Mathilde's joint monogram.

Inside the envelope is a card. The front of the card is the exact same as last year. For more on the monogram, check out the post on their Christmas reply from last year.

The inside of the card has a family photo and message. (L-R: 1st row- Gabriel, Mathilde, Philippe, Elisabeth. 2nd row- Emmanuel, Eleonore)

The message, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, is the exact same as last year, except the date has obviously been changed. The message is in Dutch, French, German, and English.

The King and Queen's signatures are printed onto the card, with their 4 children's names typed below (in order of age).  

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Prince Albert & Princess Charlene of Monaco - Christmas Reply (2016)

A reply arrived today, while I was away on holiday. The reply is similar to their previous Christmas replies. They did get this out faster than previous years, by 1-2 weeks.  

One thing I have always said is Monaco has the nicest quality replies. You can't see it in the picture, but this envelope is actually sparkly if you hold it to the light just right. The Monaco Royals have very beautiful envelopes, in a variety of colors and textures. Usually, they pick an envelope that matches the color and texture of the letter or card they are sending. 

The stamp on this reply is of Enrico Caruso, a famous Italian opera singer  (1873 – 1921). Enrico Caruso performed all over the world, including Monaco. The stamp was released in March 2016. The Postmark says "Joyeuses Fetes," which is French for "Happy Holidays." 

Inside is a card. The front features the couple's joint monogram in red and a lovely family photo that was taken in early December at the palace.

And again it's really nice quality. It is heavy paper, that sparkles in the light. The photo isn't printed on, rather it glued onto the front. This allows them to have the heavy paper, while also have a very nice quality photo. 

On the inside of the card is a message, in 3 languages: French, English and Monegasque. They change up the message each year. At the bottom of the card is Albert and Charlene's signatures. They are printed on, and the same ones they have been using for years.  

  

The card reads: 

May the joy and peace of the holiday season be with you in this New Year 2017.
Albert de Monaco                   Charlene de Monaco

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Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein - Christmas Reply (2016)

Today, my first Royal Christmas reply of 2016 came! This was a pretty quick reply. It helps that I wrote early when they weren't swamped with Christmas Wishes. Don't expect this good luck, even if you wrote to Liechtenstein around the same time as me. Remember it takes a while for them to reply to everyone so you could get your's weeks apart from someone else.

I had sent my letter to Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein on November 20th, so it took just over 2 weeks to get a reply. It is very lovely. The card is the same style as one I received for Princess Sophie's Birthday. But, obviously, a different typed message.

  

The message is in German, Liechtenstein's official language. The card reads:

Dear Miss Daly 

Blessed Christmas and all the best in the New Year 

Sophie Liechtenstein Alois Liechtenstein

The signature of Princess Sophie and Prince Alois are printed on. It looks like a secretary filled in the "Dear Miss Daly,"

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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.

https://gertsroyalreplies.blogspot.com/p/replies.html

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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