Condolence Reply for Queen Elizabeth II from Princess Anne (2022)

I received my first condolence reply from the UK Royals following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. This reply is from Princess Anne. 

The envelope has a handwritten address and does this very beautiful thing where each line of the address is indented. Since Princess Anne's office switched to pre-made more generic cards back in 2021, her envelopes have often been hand-written. And it kind of makes sense, that if you aren't typing replies, tyou wouldn't want to use the computer just to print a personalized envelope.  

The yellow box at the bottom is the forwarding sticker because I'm still not home after the condo fire in September. 

The back of the envelope is blank. 

Inside the envelope is a flat card with a black border. Black border stationery is a mourning tradition popularized in the Victorian Era. I have always found the black mourning border to be very lovely. The top of the card features Princess Anne's monogram, an "A" under the Coronet of the Child of the Monarch. This same coronet is used on Princess Anne's Coat of Arms. The coronet a royal uses is based on their relationship to a Monarch, not necessarily the current one. So, Anne will continue to use this foronet.

In terms of the printed card, it is almost identical to the one sent following the death of Prince Philip. The one difference is the lack of period "." following the word "future."

The card is written by Princess Anne's Lady in Waiting, Celia Innes, who has served Princess Anne since 1977.  And adds a personal note, at the end of the general card, thanking me for my donation to The Red Cross. I donated to The Red Cross in Queen Elizabeth's memory, as she was the Patron of the British Red Cross throughout her reign. The British Red Cross is one of the patronages that has been passed down from Monarch to Monarch since Queen Victoria. But prior to her accession, then Princess Elizabeth served as Patron of the British Junior Red Cross.

The card reads: 

Dear Gertrude

The Princess Royal thanks you for your kind thoughts and sends you best wishes for the future and is very grateful for your donation to The Red Cross.  

Your Sincerely

Celia Innes 

Lady in Waiting

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UK Royal Postmarks - King Charles's Reign 1st design W7047 (2022-2023)

The postmark used by the british royals was redesigned after Queen Elizabeth II's death to mark the new reign. As part of the redesign,  the Royals switched their PPI number back to W7047 after using W4047 since 2019. This postmark was only used for about a year, because being redesigned due to new franking machine and Royal Mail's switch to Mailmark machines.

This blog post covers all the postmarks I received that feature the this designs. You can find info on the past & the new postmark used here. 

Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace

There is one main postmark that is stamped on all most all of the Royal Mail that is processed through the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace. "Buckingham Palace" refers to the name of the Post Office.

The Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace processes mail to and from Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, St. James Palace, Kensington Palace, and occasionally other Royal Residences outside of London. The following shows the same postmark from the Court Post Office presented in different circumstances. 

Air Mail Stamped  

Air Mail Sticker

Double Postmark

Occasionally, you will get a reply that has the typical Buckingham Palace postmark and another postmark. This is just accidental and done when the mail is taken to the next post office on its route to you. The Mount Pleasant Mail Centre (as seen on the postmark) is London's largest sorting center and most of London's international mail is sorted through that center before heading to the Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre.

I did not receive this reply during this era. 

2nd class

I did not receive this reply during this era. 

Other

Used temporary until the switch to the new design

Court Post Office at Windsor Castle 

The other year-round Court Post Office is at Windsor Castle, which handles mail for the Royal Residences in that area (Windsor Castle, Royal Lodge, etc.). Although I have seen people get mail from Windsor Castle with the Buckingham Palace postmark. 

Without Cypher

---

The other Royal Residences don't have their own full-time Post Office. I'm not entirely sure on the details on how their mail is processed. Some of them will just have their mail taken to London and dealt with the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace. Others have their own Franking Machine to stamp the envelopes, and then they will just deliver their mail to their local post office.

Sandringham House

This postmark is used for Sandringham House. King Charles spends Christmas and part of his Winter holiday at Sandringham House. I know during Queen Elizabeth's reign, Royal Mail set up a temporary post office on the Sandringham estate when the Queen was in residence.

I did not receive this reply during this era. 

Other Royal Residences

This postmark is for Bagshot Park, the Wessex's residence and office. It has in the past been used for other royal residences, which is why it is not specific to Bagshot Park.

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Prince William - Birthday Reply (2022)

A lovely piece of mail arrived today from the UK. I had written to Prince William in June for his 40th Birthday. This reply arrived more than 7 months after I send my letter. I think this about ties for my longest reply with Queen Elizabeth's 90th Birthday which also took 7 months. 

Normally, I would start this off by saying, something like "The envelope is the usual from the British Royals." But this is new. My first piece of mail with King Charles's cypher. The cypher along with the date circle and Royal Mail box are franked (stamped) onto the envelope. You can see it was placed over the "Air Mail" sticker and is not a part of the envelope.

The postmark is November 29th, last year. So, it took a very long time to get here. Part of that is because I am "temporarily" staying with friends after my Condo building had a fire last September, and I have been unable to live at my house. (Last time I slept in my bed, Queen Elizabeth was still alive and Boris Johnson was Prime Minister of the UK.)

The black random letters on the envelope are from the Forward Mail sticker. I removed the sticker, as it was covering the postmark. 

The back of the envelope is the usual from the Waleses. It features the Coronet of the Son of the Heir Apparent with the name of the palace where their office is located. The couple have not changed this to use the Crown of the Heir Apparent. Possibly, they are waiting to use up with existing stationary. 

The Black Coronet, Kensington Palace was printed on when the envelopes were made. William and Kate have used this stationary since 2016. Prince William's Birthday reply that year was the first reply I received with this black stationery. Prior to that Prince William & Princess Kate used their solo monogram on their replies. 

Inside the envelope is the usual photocard for The Walses. In fact, this is the 6th birthday, that Clarence House has used this photo of Prince William. The front of the card features a photo of Prince William by Norman-Jean Roy. The photo is from William's 2017 interview with British GQ. You can read the interview here.

The back of the card features the usual sort of message. What is interesting is the card uses William's new title "Prince of Wales," not the title he held on his birthday "The Duke of Cambridge." This indicates the cards weren't printed until after Queen Elizabeth's death.  We know Clarence House has been backlogged with mail, possibly due to staffing changes as Claudia Spens is no longer head of the correspondence section. We didn't see any of William's birthday replies prior to Queen Elizabeth's death and know they were still working on Prince Louis (April) & Princess Charlotte (May)'s birthday replies at the time. 

The card says: 

The Prince of Wales would like to thank you for the kind message you sent on his fortieth birthday. 

It was very thoughtful of you and greatly appreciated by His Royal Highness who sends you his best wishes. 

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Princess Stephanie of Monaco - Christmas Reply (2022)

A lovely reply arrived this week from Monaco. I had written to Princess Stephanie for Christmas. This is the first reply I have received for Christmas 2022. 

The front of the envelope is the usual. The reply was sent to my old address, and then got forwarded. Monaco is one of the monarchies that stores people's addresses and other personal information in a database. Often when sending replies, they will juse pull the address from their database using your name. I've moved a few times since I begain writing to the royals, and Monaco is the monarchy, most often to accidently send your mail to your old address. 

The postmark says "Joyeuses Fetes" (Happy Holidays) and was used the week of Christmas 2022. 

The stamps features Prince Albert I during his expedition to Spitsbergen, Norway. The stamp says "Topographie au Spitzberg Moller Bay, 1907" (Topography at Spitsbergen Moller Bay, 1907). The stamp was released in June 2022, to mark the 200 years since the death of Prince Albert I of Monaco, the "Explorer Prince." Prince Albert I was the great-great-grandfather of monaco's current monarch, Prince Albert II.  

The front of the cards features a candle design along with the words "Une Lumiére pour Noël" (A light for Christmas). 

Inside is the usual message from Princess Stephanie along with a printed on signature, which is the same one she has used for past years. The message says "Best Wishes for a Happy New Year" in both French and English. And is signed "Stéphanie de Monaco".

The back of the card features the logo for Croix-Rouge Monégasque (Monaco Red Cross) & Fight Aids Monaco. The Christmas Card is one of two cards released by the Monaco Red Cross & Fight Aids Monaco for 2022 as part of their annual "A Light for Christmas" project. The project raised funds to support poor and isolated people during the end-of-year holidays. 

Princess Stephanie has been president of Fight Aids Monaco since 2004. (Prince Albert is President of the Monaco Red Cross, along with Princess Charlene who serves as Vice President.)

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Christmas Replies - 2022 Main Page

 Here are all the Replies I have received so far, for Christmas 2022. 

Denmark 

• Queen Margrethe

Belgium 

• King Albert & Queen Paola

Liechtenstein 

• Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie

Luxembourg 

• Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

Monaco 

• Princess Stephanie
• Princess Caroline

Spain 

• King Felipe & Queen Letizia

UK 

• Duchess Sarah

Guide to Writing to the Royals for Christmas (2022)

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 2021. 

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:

Monday, December 12th!

This may not get your letter/card there by Christmas, but it should be there in a timely fashion. I don't think it is vital that your letter/card arrive before Christmas, as many Royal offices won't even get to your Christmas letter/card until after the holiday. 

If it is important to you that your letter/card arrive by Christmas you can find the exact "send by date" for your country by checking 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 2023. I think at the latest you can write until the end of the first or second 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. The only recent change in mailing addresses is King Charles & Queen Camilla's mail should now be sent to Buckingham Palace. 

(We also created a Google Doc a few years ago with all the addresses for the Current European Monarchies, which you can print off.)

Note: The Correspondence Section at Clarence House will continue to handle the Waleses (formerly Cambridges) mail, as that is where the dedicated space, equipment, & staff for handling mail is located. This may change in the future, and we will update you when that happens.

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, or whatever it is you are celebrating this season. Be aware, however, most royals send out pre-made cards, that aren't personalized 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 2022 that was particularly meaningful to you
• or a cause, royal visit, etc. 
• Royal wedding, baby/pregnancy announcement, etc. 
• What you are most excited about in 2023
• 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. 

But it's also completely fine to send a pre-made card and just sign your name. 

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 Year.  

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 who 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, May & June before.)

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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Writing a Letter of Condolence for Queen Elizabeth II

 I won't repeat the basics of writing to the Royals, as it is pretty much the same for all letters. You can find a lot of helpful info on that here. (And just a reminder, if you are sending a letter internationally, you need an international stamp! [Or the equivalent postage.])

Who to write to:

You can write to King Charles and if you would like, mention that you are sending your condolences to him and his family. 

Alternatively, you can send individual letters or cards to the different members of the Queen's family. I would send a letter to a couple or family, instead of writing to each individual royal. 

I will probably write to the Queen's four children, plus the Waleses. And for each, mention I am sending my condolences to them and their family. 

Address:

The address for King Charles & Queen Camilla is: 

Buckingham Palace

London SW1A 1AA 

UNITED KINGDOM

You can find a list of all the addresses for the British Royals here. 

How to style the royal on the envelope and Dear _, Line:

When writing to the Royals there are a lot of different ways you can address them depending on how formal or informal you wish to be and the tone of your letter/card. 

We have a blog post that breaks down some ways to address people based on their title. You can find it here. (The 2nd table shows how to address couples.) 

When to write:
Don't feel like you need to write this minute. Give yourself a few days to reflect, see what information is being released by the Palace, family, media, etc.

I think anytime within 2 weeks after the passing/funeral is acceptable.

What to say:
Letters of condolences are best-kept brief, anywhere from a few lines to a page.

Things you might include in your letter:

• Your condolences to the person you are writing to (and their family). 
• How you felt when you hear the news
• Your feeling towards Queen Elizabeth
• What did you admire most about her?
• Share a favorite memory
• How will you remember Queen Elizabeth?
• What were her best strengths or characteristics?
• Did you ever get to meet/see her in person?
• If you made a donation in her honor, you can mention that 
• Why you chose to donate to that organization
• What that organization does 
• Let them know they will be in your thoughts/prayers 

Donations:

Should you wish to make a charitable donation in memory of Queen Elizabeth you can. The Palace has not named any specific charities for people to donate to. But have instead encouraged people to give to a charity of their choosing or one of the charities or organizations which Queen Elizabeth supported in her public duties. 

Handwrite vs. Typed:
There is an old, outdated rule that letters of condolences must be handwritten. This comes from a time when people learned beautiful penmanship and typewriters were a new invention. If you have nice handwriting, I would strongly encourage you to handwrite your note. It makes it more beautiful and personal.

But if you don't have nice handwriting, and a typed letter is actually going to look nicer and be easier to read, then feel free to type it.

I've sent both handwritten and typed letters of condolence in the past. I usually handwrite the note if it is only a few lines. And will type the note if it's longer.

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