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. 

Back to Replies - Main Page

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

Back to Replies - Main Page

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. 

Back to Replies - Main Page

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. 

Back to Replies - Main Page

Princess Charlotte & Prince Louis - Birthday Reply (2020)

A lovely reply arrived from the UK today. I had written in May for Princess Charlotte & Prince Louis's birthday. Last year, I had written separate letters for the two kids' birthdays. 

The front of the envelope is the usual from the British Royals. 

The back of the envelope features the Black Crown/Kensignton Palace that the Cambridges have been using since 2016. 

Inside are two photo cards that are pretty identical and the same type we have been seeing for years. 

Princess Charlotte's birthday reply features a lovely photo of her taken by Duchess Kate. This was part of the set of photos released for Charlotte's birthday in May. 

The back of the card features the Black Crown/Kensington Palace along with a typed message. The message is the same as last year's except for Charlotte's age. 

The card reads: 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appreciated your kind thought in writing to Princess Charlotte as you did on the occasion of her fifth birthday.  

This was greatly appreciated by Their Royal Highnesses who send you their best wishes. 

Prince Louis's photo card also features a photo taken by Duchess Kate. This photo is from the same set of photos released for his birthday in April, although this photo was never officially released. This is the 2nd time I've gotten a reply from the Cambridges that used an unreleased photo. The 1st time was their 5th wedding anniversary reply. 

The back of the card features the same message as Princess Charlotte's card except for the obvious changes. 

The card says: 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appreciated your kind thought in writing to Prince Louis as you did on the occasion of his second birthday.  

This was greatly appreciated by Their Royal Highnesses who send you their best wishes. 

Back to Replies - Main Page

Prince Albert - 15th Anniversary of Accession/Enthronement

A lovely reply arrived today from Monaco. I had written to Prince Albert in April to congratulate him on the 15th Anniversary of his Accession. 

The front of the envelope is the usual sort of thing. The text in the left upper corner says, in French: "Service of H.S.H. The Prince of Monaco." 

As you can kind of tell by the yellow sticker attached, this envelope was addressed to my old address, and then forwarded to my new address. I moved in March. I used my new address when sending my letter to Prince Albert, but they must have pulled my old address from their database when addressing this envelope. So far, since the move, Monaco has been the only monarchy to send mail to my old address. 

The back of the envelope is blank. And from the feel of the paper and inside of the envelopes we can see that this is different than what we usually see from the Monaco royals. Normally they use a high-quality envelope that matches the reply's paper. But, of the few letters I have received from Monaco, they have all come in a business envelope like this. 

Inside is a letter from Christine Sprile. She has been Prince Albert's Chief Private Secretary since 2019. Before that, she was his Assistant Private Secretary. The letter is almost identical to the letter I received 5 years ago for the 10th Anniversary of Prince Albert's Accession. Although I had written for Albert's accession, this letter instead refers to Prince Albert's enthronement. (Accession is when you become monarch. Enthronement is a formal ceremony similar to a coronation.)

Prince Albert's accession was April 6th, 2005, when his father died. Prince Albert's enthronement ceremony took place on July 12th, 2005 after the 3-month mourning period had ended (with continued celebrations on Monaco's National Day in November.) 

The letter says: 

The Private Secretary 

of  

HSH the Sovereign Prince of Monaco

Palace of Monaco, 

July 16th, 2020. 

Dear Mrs. Daly, 

His Serene Highness Prince Albert II has received with great pleasure your kind wishes sent on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of His enthronement and your kind wishes of prompt recovery. 

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

Back to Replies - Main Page