Condolence Reply for Prince Philip from Prince Charles (2021)

I received this reply a while ago from the UK. I had written to Prince Charles & Duchess Camilla to extend my condolences following the death of Prince Philip. While I had written to the couple, the reply is from Prince Charles. 

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

The back of the envelope may look like the usual from Prince Charles with his Prince of Wales feathers. But, actually, this is different. Normally, Prince Charles's envelopes have the feathers in Red. This envelope uses black as part of the mourning of Prince Philip. 

Inside is a folded card. The front of the card features Prince Charles's Badge. The center of the badge has the Prince of Wales feathers. They are surrounded by the Order of Garter Belt and topped with the coronet of the heir apparent.

The black edge is a victorian era tradition for mourning. 

The inside left features a photo of Prince Philip & Prince Charles at a boat race in Isle of Wight in 1958. Prince Charles would have been 9 years old then. 

This photo was part of the set of photos shared after Prince Philip's death. But the photo isn't new, having been shared by Clarence House a number of times over the year. 

 

Wishing The Duke of Edinburgh a very happy 99th birthday! 🎊 pic.twitter.com/JDTwANrxra

— The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) June 10, 2020

---

Happy #FathersDay!

The Prince of Wales and his father, The Duke of Edinburgh, take part in a motorboat race on the Isle of Wight in 1958. pic.twitter.com/DHd7EfkEss

— The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) June 18, 2017

The inside right features a typed message.

The card says: 

The Prince of Wales thanks you so much for your kind message of sympathy. 

His Royal Highness has been enormously touched by the many generous messages that have been received in recent days; they have provided great comfort at this very sad time. 

The Prince of Wales sends you his warmest thanks and best wishes. 

The back of the card had a note about the photo. And includes the Forest Sustainable badge, which notes the paper is from a sustainable forest. 

 

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Condolence Reply for Prince Philip from the Wessexes (2021)

I received this reply last month from Prince Edward & Countess Sophie. I had written to them to express my condolences following the death of Edward's father, Prince Philip. 

Other than the black edge for mourning, the envelope is the usual from the Wessexes. You may notice their mail does not feature the usual postmark that we see on other British Royals' mail. This is because the Wessexes's mail is not processed through the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace, which processes all the mail from the London-based Royal offices. Instead, the Wessexes's mail is handled by their staff at their home at Bagshot Park in Surrey. 

This postmark features their Sovereign Grant's old PPI number of W 7047. This was not redesigned in 2019 like the other royal postmarks to coincide with the switch to W 4047. You can find more the different Royal Postmarks here.

The back of the envelope features Prince Edward & Countess Sophie's joint coat of arms, above "Bagshot Park" the name of their home where the mail was sent from.  

Inside is a folded card. The front of card feature's Prince Philip's badge. The center of the badge is Edinburgh Castle, chosen as a nod to Prince Philip's title, The Duke of Edinburgh. The belt surrounding that is the Order of Garter Belt, with the Orders' motto, Honi soit qui mal y pense (Middle French for Shame on him who thinks evil of it). The badge is topped with the Coronet of the Child of the Sovereign. (Philip started using this coronet when he married Elizabeth and was the son-in-law of the Sovereign. As there is no special coronet for the spouse of a Queen, he kept this.) All of these elements are also features on Prince Philip's Coat of Arms. 

The front of the card says 

"In memory of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 1921-2021"

The inside of the card features a photo of Prince Philip along with a typed message. 

I did try tracking down the photo to figure out what event it was from. I wasn't able to find that out. But the photo has been used by the Duke of Edinburgh Awards a number of times. So, I would assume it is from Duke of Edinburg Awards event. 

It’s with great sadness that we acknowledge the death of our Patron HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, he will be sadly missed. pic.twitter.com/27Ui8HFQAu

— DofE (@DofE) April 9, 2021

Choosing a Duke of Edinburgh Awards Event would be particularly meaningful to the Wessexes as they are heavily involved with the organization.

The card says:

Thank you for your kind message of condolence. We are extremely grateful for your thoughtfulness in writing at this sad time.  

TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex and Forfar

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Condolence Reply for Prince Philip from the Cambridges (2021)

This reply arrived a few months ago. I had written to the Cambridges following the death of Prince Philip. 

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

The back features the Cambridge's usual Black Coronet/Kensington Palace. This is a standard envelope for the Cambridge replies. Although they do have the same design in letter size.  

Inside is not the Cambridges' usual flat photo card. Instead, it is a glossy folded card. The front of the card features the couple's individual monograms, W & C under the coronets of the Children of the Heir Apparent. The back of the card has a photo credit, (c) Anthony Devlin, for the inside photo.

Due to its glossy finish and thicker card stock, this card seems a lot more durable than the couple's normal photocard. This is very nice as this, a goodbye to Prince Philip, would probably be a much more treasured memento from recipients than their usual photo card. So, it is nice that they made this something that would last an extra long time. 

The black border is for mourning. And is an old Victorian-era tradition, that I find especially lovely. While some royals use this black mourning edging, it's not required that all royals use it. 

The inside of the card features a photo of Prince Philip, along with a typed message. The photo is from 2012 when Prince Philip attended the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Armed Forces Parade and Muster at Windsor Castle. 

The card says: 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge thank you for your kind words following the death of The Duke of Edinburgh. 

Their Royal Highnesses have been incredibly moved by the many thoughtful messages they have received in recent weeks. 

They will all miss their much loved grandfather and great-grandfather, but your message has provided great comfort at this difficult time. 

 

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King Felipe & Queen Letizia - Christmas Reply (2020)

A lovely reply arrived back in March from Spain. I had written to King Felipe & Queen Letizia to wish them a Merry Christmas. 

The front of the envelope is the usual from the Spain Royals. The blue circle with "Household of HM the King - Protocol" is printed on, not stamped. 

The back of the envelope features the King's Coat of Arms in Blue. 

Inside is the family's Christmas card. The card is basically the same each year, with a new photo and copy of handwritten message and signatures. 

The front of the card, like always, features King Felipe's coat of arms in red. 

Inside the card is a photo and message. The photo is of Princess Sofia (Left) and Princess Leonor (Right) in Somao, Spain in October 2020 as part of the Princess of Asturias Awards.  One of the Princess of Asturias Awards categories is "Exemplary Town of Asturias." The winning town is given €25,000 and a Royal Visit. Somao, in Asturias, Spain was the 2020 winner. 

The text under the photo says, "Somao (Pravia), Exemplary Town of Asturias Award 2020." (Pravia is the municipality in Asturias where Somao is located.)

The right side inside the card has a bi-lingual typed message. Along with a copy of a handwritten note and signatures that are printed onto the card.  

Each year they are two versions of this card. One with the handwritten note in English and one with the note in Spanish, which they send out according to the language of the recipient. However, once they run out of one, they will start sending out the other to everyone, which is why I received the card with the Spanish handwritten message. 

The card says,

"May this Christmas bring us a specially hopeful New Year 2021. 

Much thanks for the well-wishes,

Felipe R 

Letizia R

Leonor, Princess of Asturias 

Sofia, Infanta de España"

In past years, the typed line on the card says simply "Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 20xx." The change this year is obviously a reference to the pandemic. 

The back of the card features King Felipe & Queen Letizia's joint monogram.  

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King Juan Carlos & Queen Sofia of Spain - Christmas Reply (2020)

I received this reply, or should I say replies from King Juan Carlos & Queen Sofia of Spain back in April & May. This is the 2nd time I've received a Christmas reply in April and the 1st time I've received one in May. 

The two replies I received are pretty much exactly the same. I have received a double reply a few times over the years. 

The two envelopes are identical. Printed on the envelope is a circle with "Office of HM the King - Protocol" along with the King's coat of arms. The envelope is franked with a generic blue "Postage Paid, Letter."

While there is no postmark with a date from Spain, the mail forwarding sticker for the two envelopes are more than a month apart. 

The two letters are identical, except for the way my address is written. On one it is written in all caps and on the second with the first letters capitalized. The letters are dated February 24th, which doesn't seem to line up with the dates I received the replies. As this is a generic letter that they just swap the recipient's name and address, it is likely they just forgot to update the date (that is a common error we see). 

The letter reads: 

House of HM the King

The Chief of Protocol

Zarzuela Palace

Feburary 24th, 2021

Miss Gertrude Alexandra Daly 

[My Address]

From Chief of Protocol of the House of His Majesty the King, 

Their Majesties King Don Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia entrust me to convey their most sincere thanks for the kind Christmas greetings they have received, while they convey their best wishes for this year 2021.

I take this opportunity to send you my best wishes, 

Alfredo Martinez Serrano

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Condolence Reply from Princess Anne for Death of Prince Philip (2021)

A lovely, but sad reply arrived today from the UK. I had written to Princess Anne & Sir Tim to express my deepest condolences following the death of Prince Philip. This is the first condolence reply I have received following Philip's death. 

The envelope is the usual from the British Royals and features the postmark from the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace. 

The back of the envelope is blank, which is what we have seen from Princess Anne since her office switched from ending letters to flat cards last year.  

Inside is a flat card with a typed message. The card has a black border, with 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 Sovereign. This same coronet is used on Princess Anne's Coat of Arms. 

The card reads: 

The Princess Royal thanks you for your kind thoughts and sends you best wishes for the future. 

The message is pretty generic and makes no specific mention to Prince Philip. 

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Duke of Kent - 85th Birthday (2020)

A lovely reply arrived in January from the UK. I had written to the Duke of Kent for his 85th Birthday in October. 

I usually only write to the Queen's cousins for their milestone birthdays. And as such this is only the 3rd reply I have from the Duke. The first was from his 80th Birthday in 2015. The 2nd from his 2017 illness. 

What is most interesting about the envelope is it doesn't have the usual postmark from the Court Post office at Buckingham Palace. Although, it is still franked with the Sovereign Grant's PPI number W4047. This would indicate this was NOT sent from one of the London Royal Residences, as all their mail collected and processed through the Court Post Office, and would be franked with that postmark. 

International Mail is usually routed from the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace to the Mount Pleasant Mail Center in Central London and then to Heathrow Airport. However, the 2nd Postmark in black shows that this piece of mail was instead processed through the Croydon Mail Centre, which is way south of Central London. This makes me think that the letter did not in fact come from the Duke of Kent's office at St. James's Palace, but instead, sent from a staff member's home near Croydon as they were working from home. 

Inside is a letter from Mrs. Gill Pearson, The Duke of Kent's Personal Assistant. The letter is written on a half-sheet of paper. Past replies from the Duke were printed on nice stationery with his embossed badge and info at the top of the page. Instead, this is simply printed on printer paper with a grainy image of his badge hat was also printed on. I think that is another result of The Duke's assistant working from home, and maybe not having access to his nice stationery. 

The Letter says: 

The Office of HRH The Duke of Kent

St. James's Palace

London SW1A 1BQ

 

Miss Gertrude Daly 

[My Address] 

Dear Miss Daly,  

His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent thanks you for sending good wishes on the occasion of His Royal Highness's 85th Birthday.  

Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated.  

Yours sincerely, 

G. M. Pearson 

Mrs. Gill Pearson

Personal Assistant to H.R.H The Duke of Kent K.G.

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