Duchess Kate - Birthday Reply (2015)

Today I received a reply from the UK. I had written to Duchess Kate for her birthday.

The envelope is the typical from the British Royals with the EIIR postmark from the Buckingham Palace Court Post Office.

On the back of the envelope is Kate's Golden Monogram. (The Cambridges & Sussexs no longer uses their individual monograms for normal replies. Instead, The Cambridges & Sussexs use a black Kensington Palace.)

The reply is the usual of the Cambridges, a photo reply with typed message on the back. The picture was taken by Arthur Edwards during the Cambridges' visit to Only Connect's Head Office in November 2013.

The message reads:

The Duchess of Cambridge was touched that you took the trouble to write as you did on the occasion of her birthday. It really was most thoughtful of you and Her Royal Highness sends you her warmest thanks and best wishes. 

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Prince Albert - 10th Anniversary of Accession Reply (2015)

I knew this letter was going to be different from the usual Monaco reply when I noticed the back of the envelope was missing Prince Albert of Monaco's usual monogram (2 red A's under a crown). 

This reply was for my letter to Prince Albert to congratulate him on his 10th anniversary of accession. The response was written on July 22nd and mailed on the 24th. It took 12 days in the mail, which is a little longer than usual.

Besides the lack of monogram on the back, the envelope looks exactly like usual. And yes, that is Prince Albert on the stamp.

Normally, Monaco sends out bilingual, pre-typed notes on really nice quality cardstock. I've received these type of replies for Prince Albert's birthday, Princess Charlene's birthday and the birth of their twins.

This time, the reply was a letter written by Prince Albert's Private Secretary, Christine Sprile and hand signed. I assume this is because there was no prepared card. 

The note is brief but mentions why I wrote and thanks me for writing. The red print on the top of the page reads "La Secrétaire Particuliére De S.A.S. Le Prince Souverain de Monaco" which translated mean "The Private Secretary of His Serene Highness, the Sovereign Prince of Monaco."

The letter reads: 

Palace of Monaco 

July 22nd, 2015

Dear Ms. Daly,  

His Serene Highness Prince Albert II has received with great pleasure your kind wishes, sent on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of enthronement.  

The Prince has asked me to send you His most sincere thanks for your thoughtful attention which was very much appreciated.  

With all my best regards, 

Christine Sprile

This letter is very sweet with a lot of nice adjectives: great pleasure, kind wishes, sincere thanks, thoughtful attention, much appreciated, best regards. 

Another interesting thing is the salutation "With all my best regards,". For the most part, I've always seen "Yours sincerely." "With my best regards" seems more personal than the typical response, especially since the writer is normally writing on behalf of a royal and sending the royals thanks and best wishes, not their own.

And the last thing I have to say about this letter, is check out the awesome watermark, "opale". Only a handful of letters I've gotten have had watermarks. Opale is a brand of paper created by the UK company, Arjowiggins. Arjowiggins also make the brand Conqueror commonly used for Monaco's typical pre-typed responses.

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Duchess Camilla - Birthday Reply (2015)

I was very excited when I spotted this envelope lying on my kitchen counter.

I could tell immediately from the front of the envelope that this letter was from Camilla. Not because there was a Monogram/Cypher on the front, but because Camilla is the only BRF I have ever gotten a larger sized envelope from or piece of mail sent by registered mail.

 One interesting thing I noticed was the color of Camilla's monogram on the back of the envelope.

Last time, it was green and this time it was blue. The green monograms are letters sent from Birkhall. Birkhall is Charles and Camilla's residence in Scotland. The blue monogram is for letters sent from Clarence House, their official residence in London.

Camilla replies with the usual photo card, with a typed message on the back. Camilla's cards are a little extra special compared to the other birthday replies from Clarence House. This card is double the size of the typical Charles/Cambridges/Harry birthday replies.

On the front of the card, is a very lovely picture of Camilla at the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of the Arts on June 2nd. The picture was taken by Thomas Alexander. I especially love this photo, because we see Camilla making a rare tiara appearance, and wearing her Royal Victorian Order and her Royal Family Order.

The reply was sent 3 days after Camilla's birthday and took 8 days to arrive in the mail.

And to make it extra special, Camilla hand-signed the note, which is why this was sent by registered mail.

The message reads:

Dear Gertrude,  

Thank you for remembering my birthday and for sending me such a lovely message.  

With best wishes, 

 Camilla

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Queen Sonja of Norway - Birthday Reply (2015)

I got a reply today from Norway. I had written to Queen Sonja of Norway for her 78th birthday on July 4th. I don't remember the exact date I sent my letter, but based on when I normally send letters, this reply came in just under a month, which is a great response time.

The envelope is pretty basic. But one of the things I love about getting mail from the Royals is each country has it own distinct postmark and markings. The envelope's postmark "Norge" means Norway, and was sent priority on the 21st (2 weeks after Queen Sonja's birthday). It took 6 days to arrive in the mail.

"Det Kongelige Hoff" written on the bottom of the envelope is Norwegian for "The Royal Court." There was no monogram on the back of the envelope. 

This was the first time I had written to the Norway Royals. The letter is brief, but cute. (First letters are always very exciting.) The letter is written by the Queen's senior secretary, Reidum Norberg, on a half-sheet sized paper, and hand signed. The telephone and fax on the bottom are the general numbers for the Royal Palace.

The message on the letter:

Dear Miss Daly, 

H.M. The Queen has asked me to thank you for your kind greetings on the occasion of Her Majesty's birthday. 

Yours sincerely, 

Reidun Norberg

Senior Secretary

The letter was written on a very nice quality paper. The watermark indicates that it is the brand "Conqueror," manufactured by UK company, Arjowiggins Creative Papers.  I found this interesting because it is a British company, and because I've seen the name, Conqueror, on a number of envelopes from different royals. (The Conqueror watermark is only present on a few sizes and colors, depending on the style of paper.)

This letter is written on cream colour paper, and the lines you see in the watermark are part of the "Laid" papermaking process. 

As I looked through all my different letters, I realized many of them are on Conqueror stationary (e.g. Norway, Monaco, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Duchess of York). There are a whole bunch of different types, style, colours and finishes. 

For those wondering what Stationary the British Royals use, no need for a watermark. The Queen and Prince Charles have both given out Royal Warrants to The Wren Press.

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Thank You Letter from the King and Queen of Netherlands (2015)

I almost over looked this piece of Royal Mail when it arrived today.

I had written to the King Willem-Alexander & Queen Máxima after they had visited the USA on a Official Royal Visit in early June. They were going to be visiting really close to me, so I had planned on go to see them. I ended up not being able to, but decided to write to them about their successful tour and some local media coverage.

This is the 1st time I had written to the Dutch Royals. I really like this reply. It looks different than other Royal letters.

The Envelope is one of those large, half sheet of paper sized envelopes with a window for the address (1st piece of Royal Mail I've gotten to have such). The envelope is your normal business mail thickness and quality, which is why I almost thought was a bill at first and set it aside.  

Like with other Foreign Mail, the envelope is written in the country's native language, Dutch. It features the Royal Monogram on the front of the Envelope. The message under the Blue Crown reads Dienst Van Het Koninklijk Huis (Bureau of the Royal Household). 

The reply was sent by Priority Mail on July 2nd and arrived 5 days latter, about a month after I sent my letter. 

The Letter is on a full sheet of printed stationary. It has a embossed coat of arms on the upper right hand corner (You can't really tell in this picture). The letter was written by the Deputy Principal Secretary to the King and Queen, F. L. Manche, who hand-signed the Letter. 

 

The letter says: 

Dear Mrs. Daly,  

Thank you for your letter, that you were so kind to send to His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen  of the Netherlands after the Royal visit to the United State of American last month.  

Your kind gesture is very much appreciated. 

Yours sincerely, 

(F.L. Manche)

Deputy Principal Secretary to

 His Majesty the King and 

Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands.  

The note is very brief, but mentions specifically why I had written. The Dutch by the date denotes that this was written at Noordeinde Palace in the city Hague. I'm not entirely sure what the Dutch on the left hand side means. Onderwerp translates to Subject or Topic.  So I assume 15/jbg denotes the topic and number, but I really have no idea what this references.

More replies from The Netherlands 

Prince Philip - Birthday Reply (2015)

I had written to Prince Phillip for his 94th Birthday last month. This reply came about a month after I sent my letter. Which is a very reasonable response time.

This response is obviously a form response, sent to everyone who wrote. There is nothing about this letter that would suggest it was in a way specifically written for me. This is also the first letter I have received from a British Royals where it looks like the signature was printed on.

This response was written on a half sheet sized paper. Prince Philip's stationary look different than other British royals. Over the years royals have changed their stationary, but Philip has kept this older look.

The telephone number and fax are the general numbers for Buckingham Palace.

The letter says: 

I have been asked by Prince Philip to say how much he appreciated your good wishes for his Birthday. 

Fred Moynan

Assistant Equerry to H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh

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Queen Elizabeth - Birth of Princess Charlotte Reply (2015)

 Today I received a letter from Queen Elizabeth II. I was really excited when I saw her Red monogram embossed on the back of the envelope.  I had written to Queen Elizabeth, last month, to congratulate her on the birth of her newest Great-Granddaughter, Princess Charlotte. I had also written to William & Kate and Charles & Camilla congratulating them on the birth as well.

I think I would have been more enthusiastic about this reply if it had included a sentence about the Queen's feelings about Princess Charlotte's arrival.  In the reply for the Queen's 89th Birthday, Mary Morrison, one of the Queen's Ladies-in-Waiting, wrote to me that "the arrival of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge has given much pleasure to the whole Royal Family."

The letter says: 

The Queen thanks you very much for your message of congratulations on the birth of her great-granddaughter, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.  

Her Majestty is most grateful for your kind words and greatly appreciated your thought for her family at this time.

 

June 2015

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