King Harald of Norway - Birthday Reply (2016)

Today, I received a reply from King Harald of Norway. I had written to him in February for his 79th birthday. 

The envelope is the usual from the Norway Royals. "Det Kongelige Hoff" in the bottom corner is Norwegian for "The Royal Court."  The envelope is postmarked 16 April, just under two months after his birthday.

The letter looks exactly like the other letter I had received from Queen Sonja for her birthday last year. The letter is printed on a half-size sheet of paper. 

The letter reads:
Dear Miss Daly, 

H.M. The King has asked me to thank you for your friendly letter which His Majesty has been very pleased to receive. 

Yours sincerely, 

Åse-Marie Berg
Palace's Royal Secretariats

The letter is nice, but it doesn't mention why I wrote, which confused me. I had sent three letters over the last few months to the Norway Royals (Christmas, Silver Jubilee in January, and King Harald's 79th Birthday in February) and this was the only reply I've received. I was able to figure out that this was in reply to my birthday letter since I had moved in late January, and the birthday reply was the only one that used my new address.

The words "friendly letter" made me smile. Usually, they just write "your letter" or thank you for your "kind wishes."

The letter is hand signed by Åse-Marie Berg, who is one of the Palace's Royal Secretariats. Royal Secretariat is a department in the Royal Household that organizes engagements, responds to invitations, answers mail, etc. Should not be confused with a Private Secretary.

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King Philippe of Belgium - Birthday Reply (2016)

So I must admit I was utterly puzzled when I arrived home today and found two envelopes from the Belgium Royal Palace waiting for me. I could remember one recent letter I had written, but I could not for the life of me remember the 2nd letter.

Sheepishly, I opened the two envelopes to see what I had forgotten and found that it wasn't my mistake, it was the Palace's. For some reason, they sent me two copies of the same letter. They are exactly the same, except for the small differences of two hand-signatures.

I had written for King Philippe's 56th birthday, on April 15th. But had also expressed my sympathies for the recent attack in Brussels.

The letter reads: 

Dear Miss Daly,  

I have been directed by Their Majesties the King and the Queen to acknowledge the receipt of your letter following the attacks in Belgium on March 22nd, 2016.  

The King and the Queen, deeply touched by your message of heartfelt sympathy, have asked me to convey to you Their warmest thanks for your deepest solidarity with the Belgian people and your pious thoughts.  

The King and The Queen have asked me to send you Their best wishes of health.  

Yours sincerely, 

Frans van Daele

Head of Cabinet of His Majesty the King

This is the first time I have ever received a letter from the Belgium Royals, previously I've just received cards. The letter makes no mention of the fact that I had written for the King's birthday. 

One thing I found very interesting was the letters and number on the top of the page, CC /MF /P 612.935. I have no idea what they mean. I assume they are some sort of way of documenting this letter. 

The letter was written by Frans Van Daele, the Head of the King's Cabinet. The reply came super fast, it was written about the same day it was received. 

As I said, I received two identical letters. But, one of the letters was accompanied by two pictures. (The other letter had no pictures.) 

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Prince Albert of Monaco - Birthday Reply (2016)

A lovely reply arrived from Prince Albert of Monaco. I had written for his Birthday in March.

The envelope looks exactly like you would expect from Monaco.

What got me really excited was the stamp.  Not just because I love Monaco's stamps, but because I mentioned the Lillehammer Youth Olympics in my letter to Prince Albert. So it was a lovely touch they used the Lillehammer stamp on the envelope. The stamp is from February, which is pretty recent. Monaco's stamps on replies aren't always that recent. So, I would like to think this stamp was used because I mentioned the Games in my letter.

Even though Monaco has zero Olympics medals and only 1 Youth Olympic medal, Prince Albert has always proudly supported and encouraged Monaco's athletes. Prince Albert flew to Norway in February to watch Monaco's one athlete competing in the Youth Olympic Games. And we, of course, expect to see him at the Rio Olympics this summer. (I'm thinking it will be unlikely Charlene and the twins, Gabriella and Jacques will join him. But you never know.) Currently, Monaco does not have any Athletes qualified for the Rio Olympics. But there is still time, and they haven't missed a Game since 1980.

Monaco is usually very predictable when it comes to sending replies. They usually send pre-made cards, DL sized (i.e. size of a normal envelope), on very nice quality paper, and often with the message in English & French. The reply will have the Royals' monogram (either engraved or embossed) and their signature printed on.

The message says: 

I would like to thank you warmly for your kind birthday wishes 

Albert de Monaco

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Crown Princess Mary of Denmark - Birthday Reply (2016)

Sorry for posting this late. I was a bit busy with the Easter Holidays and this is nothing we haven't seen before.

I wrote to Crown Princess Mary in February for her 44th birthday. A little over a month and a half latter, this arrived. The Crown Prince Couple's replies always look just like this. In fact this is identical to last year's Birthday reply.

The response time was the same as usual for this couple. They usually reply quite quickly, but since they sent the letter economy, it took forever to arrive.

More Replies from the Crown Prince Family

Duchess Kate - Birthday Reply (2016)

Today, I received a reply to the letter I wrote to Duchess Kate for her Birthday in January! The reply was sent a little over a month after her birthday, which is a great response time.

The envelope looked just like the usual. But what was most interesting is it came in an envelope with William's monogram on the back. Kate's mail usually comes in envelopes with her Golden monogram. So, this was either a simple mistake, or they ran out of her envelopes.



If the card looks at all familiar it's because it is. This is the exact same picture and message used for Kate's reply last year. There is no way to tell them apart. I was comparing the two, and I mixed them up. I was luckily able to figure out which was which, because one of them had gotten slightly dented in the mail, and I could match the dent with the dented envelope, which of course has a postmark on the date and different monograms.

The picture was taken by Arthur Edwards during the Cambridges visit to Only Connect's Head Office on 19th November 2013. Only Connect works with ex-offenders and young people at risk of offending to give them the skill, tools, and opportunities to develop and pursue their life goals in a productive way.

This is quite an old photo (26 months old), even old for last years reply (14 months old). Of all the photos I've gotten from various royals, Kate's birthday replies (and Duchess Sarah's) are the only ones I've gotten that have pictures over 6ish months old. Usually, the photos are fairly recent.

The card 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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Princess Charlene - Birthday Reply (2016)

Replies from Monaco are always one of my favorites!

One of the things you have to appreciate is the fact that they use actual stamps. Prince Albert's father really loved stamps. He oversaw the production of all of Monaco's stamps and opened the Museum of Stamps and Coins. (Monaco's two Princes before Albert's father were also big stamp collectors.)

This stamp features "La nymphe Salmacis," a work by Monaco sculptor François-Joseph Bosio (The nymph Salmacis - from Greek mythology). The stamp was released in April 2015.




An interesting thing about the envelope is the circle on the left side. All the letter I've gotten from Monaco have said "Service de S.A.S. le Prince/la Princesse de Monaco" (Service of HSH the Prince/ss of Monaco). But it is usually written in two lines. This is the first time I have seen it in a circle with the Monaco coat of arms.

Inside is a typed, thank you card for Princess Charlene's birthday, with a printed signature. The reply is very similar to her card from last year.

The card reads:

I was deeply touched by your kind wishes on the occasion of my birthday, and I would like to thank you most sincerely for this kind gesture. Charlene de Monaco

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Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg - 95th Birthday Reply (2016)

I was very excited when I saw this in the mailbox today. Not just because it's royal mail, which is always exciting, but because this was the 1st time I had written to the Luxembourg royals. And I really didn't know what to expect in response.

I had written to Grand Duke Jean for his 95th Birthday last month.

The front of the envelope is pretty standard looking. And yes, that is Grand Duke Henri (Jean's son) on the 2nd stamp.

The back of the envelope features a crown and where the letter was from, Chateau de Fischbach (Fischbach Castle), which is the residence of Grand Duke Jean.

Inside the envelope is a typed thank you card. This is quite similar to the type of responses usually send by the King & Queen of Belgium and the Crown Prince & Crown Princess of Denmark.

The card reads:

Château de Fischbach

Luxembourg 

February 2016

Grand Duke Jean appreciated your kind wishes on the occasion of His 95th birthday and send you many thinks.  

This was a pretty good response time. The reply was sent almost exactly a month after the Grand Duke's Birthday.

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