Guide to Writing to the Royals for Christmas (2020)

The Royals absolutely love to get letters and cards from the public, and Christmas is no different!

Writing for the 1st time?
If you are writing to the Royals for the 1st time (or want a refresher on the basics) check out our "How To" tab. This post will only cover the specifics for Christmas 2020. 

When to start writing?

My feeling is Christmas letters and cards should ideally arrive sometime in December. So I usually start sending out my letters in late November. 

You don't want to start writing too early as it can affect what you get in reply. (Same with being too late.) If they don't have the Christmas reply printed when they open your letter, the office staff may just send you some generic reply, as they don't want mail stacking up in the office. Or alternatively, your letter could get set aside and as it is at the bottom of the pile, it could be one of the last to get replies. 

Send by Date?

It is always hard to choose a "Send by Date" to recommend to you all. When you should send your letters varies: from country to country, where you are sending it to, the type of mail (economy, standard, first-class, priority, etc.), if it is a standard size envelope, etc.

Our general recommended Send by Date for International Mail is:

Saturday, December 12th!

This may not get your letter/card there by Christmas, but it should be there in a timely fashion. 

To find the exact "send by date" for you, check out your national postal service's website. Some of you may need to send your letter earlier, while others will have more time.

Remember during the Christmas season, it takes longer for mail to arrive.  

What if I miss the Dec 12th Send By Date?

That is okay. Feel free to continue sending your letters/cards after this date, it just may not arrive until after Christmas, or in January. 

If you are sending your letter after Christmas, I would re-focus it a little and wish them a Happy New Year and 2021. I think at the latest you can write until the end of the first week of January. But do keep in mind that writing late, might also affect what you get in reply. Some royals will only print a limited number of cards, and so if you write too late they might. 

Addresses?
You can find all the addresses for the Royals under our "Addresses" tab. There have not been any recent changes in Mailing Addresses. 

(We also created a Google Doc last year with all the address for the Current European Monarchies, which you can print off.)

Note: The Correspondence Section at Clarence House said in March that they were still handling the Sussexes mail. The Sussexes do not have a public USA mailing address. So, letters/cards should still be sent to Clarence House. As we haven't seen any birthday replies from the Sussexes this year, I would not expect a Christmas reply from them. 

What if I don't celebrate Christmas?
Don't worry! You can still send the Royals a Holiday/ Winter Season/ New Years letter or card, whatever it is you are celebrating this season. Be aware, however, most royals send out pre-made cards, that aren't personalize for each person, so their reply may thank you for your Christmas wishes.

What to write?
I very often get asked this question. The answer is, write whatever you feel like writing about. There is no one right answer. As long as you are being respectful and thoughtful, it is hard to go wrong.

For Christmas you could mention things like: 

• Some event in 2020 that was particularly meaningful to you
• or a cause, royal visit, etc. 
• Royal wedding, baby/pregnancy announcement, etc. 
• What you are most excited for in 2021 
• How this royal has inspired you 
• What you admire about the royal family 
• December or January birthdays/anniversaries
• etc.

We have some sample letters/cards to the Royal on the "How To" tab. 

Note:  A lot of monarchies outside Europe are not Christian and don't celebrate Christmas. If you wanted to write to them, I would figure out what it is they are celebrating this time of year, or just send them good wishes for the season/new years.  

What to expect?
The Royals get thousands of Christmas cards and letters each year, full of well-wishes and hopes for the coming year. Unfortunately, most are unable to send out personal responses. Responses vary greatly across the different royals. And, there are sadly some royals don't send replies or don't reply to everyone who writes.

Most respond with a pre-made thank you, and the response will usually be sent sometime in January, or February.  (You might get lucky with a December reply, or be made to wait until March. We have gotten a Christmas Reply in April before, and with the Pandemic slowing things down, some royals might have longer than usual response times.)

And, do remember that it takes them a while to answer everyone. So people may get their replies weeks or months apart. You can find a chart of past Christmas Response times here.

You can also check out my replies from past Christmases here.  

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Princess Beatrice & Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi - Wedding Reply

 A lovely reply arrived last week from the UK. I had written to Princess Beatrice & Edoardo to congratulate them on their wedding in July. I waited 4 months for the reply, which is very reasonable for a wedding reply.

The front of the envelope feature's the postmark from the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace. While Prince Andrew has officially stepped down as a Working Royal, his office has continued to send out replies from Buckingham Palace.

The front of the card features a lovely photo of the couple taken by Benjamin Wheeler. This was part of the set of photos released the day after their wedding. The card is similar to Princess Eugenie's Wedding Reply, except Beatrice's card is slightly smaller. But is probably more expensive given the glossy finish and heavier paper. (We saw a similar thing with Beatrice's Engagement Reply. It was a flat card compared to Eugenie's folded card. But had a more expensive finish.)

The inside of the card features a lovely handwritten note by Princess Beatrice that has been this printed on to the card. At the top is Beatrice's monogram. We have yet to see a joint monogram for the couple.   

The card says: 

July 2020

Thank you so much for the wonderful note you so kindly sent us on the occasion of our wedding this summer at Royal Lodge.  

Edo and I had a magical day filled with special moments with our families.  

We are so grateful to all those who have worked hard to protect our communities over the last few months, we owe them so much.  

Thank you for thinking of us as we begin our married life. 

Beatrice & Edo

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Prince William & Prince George - Birthday Reply (2020)

A lovely reply arrived last week from the UK. I had written to Prince William and Prince George for their birthday. I don't remember if I had written for both birthdays in one letter, or sent separate letters. 

The envelope is the usual for the British Royals, featuring the postmark from the Court Post office at Buckingham Palace.  

The back of the envelope is the usual from The Cambridges, featuring a black crown (technically the coronet of the child of the Prince of Wales) over Kensington Palace. 

The front of the card features a photo of Prince William taken by Norman Jean Roy for the July 2017 cover of British GQ.  This photo has been used on William's birthday reply for the last 4 birthdays. 

The back of the card has a typed message. The message is identical to last year's birthday reply except for William's age. 

The card says:

The Duke of Cambridge is most grateful to you for writing as you did on the occasion of his 38th birthday. It really was most thoughtful of you and His Royal Highness sends you his warmest thanks and best wishes. 

Prince George's card features a photo taken by Duchess Kate on the front. This was part of the set of photos released for Prince George's birthday. 

 

The back of the card features a typed message. The message is identical to last year's birthday reply except for George's age. 

The card says: 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appreciated your kind thought in writing to Prince George on the occasion of his seventh birthday. 

This was most thoughtful of you and greatly appreciated by Their Royal Highnesses who send you their best wishes. 

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Prince Charles of Luxembourg - Birth Reply (2020)

A lovely reply arrived this week from Luxembourg. I had written to Prince Guillaume and Princess Stephanie to congratulate them on the birth of their son, Prince Charles. 

The front of the envelope is the usual. The bottom left says "Service of the Grand Duke" in French. 

The back of the envelope features the Grand-Ducal Crown in blue. 

Inside is a card from the couple. The front of the card features the Greater Coat of Arms of Prince Guillaume. I think it is especially lovely that they used a version that is hand drawn/painted. You till notice that the supporters on the Coat of Arms are both lions and on the shield are 4 more lions.

The inside of the card features a lovely photo of Prince Charles. This photo was part of the set of photos released a few days after the Prince's birth. The photos were taken by Céline Maia at the Grand Duchess Charlotte Maternity Hospital before the little prince was taken home. 

The other side of the card features a lovely drawing/painting of a baby lion, with a bow in the colors of the Luxembourg flag. The drawing features a lion as it on the different Luxembourg Royal Coat of Arms. You till also notice the wreath of flowers is shaped in a "c" for Charles. 

The message is in French, one of Luxembourg's official language. The signatures are printed on. 

The message says, 

We sincerely thank you for your kind attention on the occasion of the birth of our son, Prince Charles.

Guillaume        Stephanie

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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.)

For more on how to style the different UK Royals. 

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. 

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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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