King Albert & Queen Paola of Belgium's Christmas Reply (2022)

A lovely reply arrived last week from Belgium. I had written to King Albert & Queen Paola to wish them a Merry Christmas.  

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

Most Monarchies either have one envelope that they regularly use, or one for each royal or couple. The Belgium Royals have a lot of different envelopes that they use, at least a dozen. This is one of my favorites. It is used for mail from Belvédere Castle. And I mainly for replies from Queen Paola. Although we have gotten it from a number of joint replies as well. 

The envelope is lined with a lovely purple tissue paper. 

Inside is a flat pre-made card from the couple. The signatures are printed on. 

The card is tri-lingual, written in French, Dutch and German. 

Best Wishes for the New Year 2023

Albert Paola 

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Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein - Christmas Reply (2022)

A lovely reply arrived today from Liechtenstein. I had written to Hereditary Prince Alois & Hereditary Princess Sophie last year for Christmas. This is the 4th reply I have received for Christmas 2022. 

The front of the Envelope is pretty usual from the Liechtenstein Royals. They are one of the few royals who still use real stamps on their envelopes. 

The stamp was part of the set released for Christmas (2022). So it was one of the most recently released stamps. The Stamp is called "View of the Universe" and depicts an angel of peace. The stamp was designed by Liechtenstein-based artist Jadwiga Falk-ley. 

The back of the envelope features the partial address for the Liechtenstein Royals. 

Inside is a flat card. This is the same card I have received from them for Christmas in the past. The card has a lovely textured edge. And the coat of arms, which isn't shown to well in this photo is embossed (raised). And I have always thought this is especially lovely, as the heavy weight of the paper, makes the embossing really stand out. And I have always been impressed by how much detail there is on the 

coat of arms. 

The card is written in German and reads: 

Blessed Christmas and all the best in the New Year.

Sophie Liechtenstein Alois Liechtenstein 

The signatures are printed and the same I have received in the past years. 

The Liechtenstein royals do a mixture of printed-on and real signatures. The printed-on signatures are in this thicker blue, and the real signatures are from something that looks more like a pen. (See Hereditary Princess Sophie's 2018 Birthday Reply)

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Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa - Christmas Reply (2022)

A lovely reply arrived this week from Luxembourg. I had written to Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa to wish them a Merry Christmas. This is my 2nd reply for Christmas 2022. 

The front of the envelope is the same as we've seen in recent years. The envelope is franked with the Palace's Port Payé (Postage Paid) account number with Post Luxembourg. This box is the usually used by Franking customers, with exception of the last row "Service du Grand-Duc" which has been added for the Palace's use. 

 

The back of the envelope is the usual from the couple, the Royal Crown of Luxembourg which is embossed in blue. 

Inside is a flat card, with a pre-typed message in French. This is the first Christmas reply I have gotten from the couple in French. Usually, they print off their Christmas card in at least two languages (English & French).

The card says: 

Luxembourg December 2022

Very touched by your kind message, Their Royal Highnesses the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg thank you very much and send you their best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2023.

Also in the envelope is a photo of Grand Duke Henri.  This is the first time I've received a photo as part of my Christmas reply from the couple. This photo was released in April 2022, to coincide with Grand Duke Henri's birthday. I'm sure why this year I got a photo, or why they just included one of Grand Duke Henri and not of both of the royals. 

Photo: Maison du Grand-Duc/Marion Dessard

On the back of the photo is some terms of use of the photo. 

Translated the message on the back of the photo says: 

Terms of use of this photo:

• This photo is the exclusive property of the Maison du Grand-Duc.
• Mandatory mention of copyright: © Maison du Grand-Duc/Marion Dessard 
• Any modification, transformation or adaptation is prohibited'
• Any provision to one or more third parties is prohibited.
  
• Any commercial transaction of this photo or resale is prohibited.   

• The user undertakes to use this photo which does not contract with the principles of human dignity and respect for the person. and to notify us, for agreement, of each use that will be made of it.

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Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg - Christmas Reply (2021)

I received this reply from Luxembourg last year but never made a blog post about it. I had written to Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. 

The front of the envelope is different than all my past replies from the Luxembourg royals. Instead of the usual stamp and postmark, this is franked. Many monarchies have switched to this over the years as it makes it much easier and usually cheaper. Envelopes can be "franked" by a machine, stamped with this box with their account number. And then Post Luxembourg just charges them for the postage, which is usually given at a reduced rate. 

The back of the envelope features an embossed crown. This is the same crown we have seen on past replies from the Grand Ducal Couple, except it is smaller and darker blue than the envelopes from the couple's past Christmas replies. 

Inside is a flat card, with a pre-typed message. This card would be sent out to pretty much everyone who writes for Christmas, although we have seen them in past years do a 2nd printing and update the date to January of the new year. 

The card says: 

Luxembourg, December 2021

Their Royal Highnesses the Grand Duke and The Grand Duchess 

of Luxembourg, very touched by your kind greetings, send you their most

heartfelt wishes for Christmas and the New Year. 

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Queen Margrethe of Denmark - Christmas Reply (2022)

A lovely reply arrived yesterday from Denmark. I had written to Queen Margrethe to wish her a Merry Christmas.

I was very surprised when I got this envelope as it was much larger than what we normally see from the Denmark Royals. So, I know it was something special. 

Normal Envelope vs. This Reply

The front of the envelope is still the usual postmark from Amalienborg, the palace complex where Queen Margrethe and other royals have their office. 

The back of the envelope features the same crown we normally see on Queen Margrethe's envelopes, but it is red instead of black and has "Amalienborg" written underneath.  In my many years of writing to the Denmark Royals, my replies from Queen Margrethe have always used the same envelope. So, this is a pretty significant difference. We can tell from the letter itself that the mail didn't come from the usual Aide-de-camp.

Inside is a letter from Hennnig Fode, Queen Margrethe's Private Secretary. He is one of the most senior members of her staff and thus is warranted his own stationery. My early replies from Queen Margrethe were from Ingelise Riedel, one of Queen Margrethe's secretaries. And then from 2017 on, they were all signed by Aides-de-Camp. 

This is the first letter I have received from Queen Margrethe that actually seems personalized to me. I mentioned in my letter how much I enjoyed the Christmas Calendar on the Denmark Royal's website. And had thanked them for including an English language version. I haven't seen anyone else get their 2022 Christmas Reply from Queen Margrethe yet, so, I can't say what others have gotten. But my assumption is, like with many other royals, a section of mail is shown to Queen Margrethe, and then personally replied to by her staff. This is why this is on different stationary and personalized. 

The letter says: 

The Private Secretary to Her Majesty The Queen

Miss Gertrude Daly                                                                                                 Amalienborg

[My Address]                                                                                                    January 10, 2023

Dear Gertrude Alexandra Daly

Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to thank you for your kind wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

It pleases Her Majesty to learn that you enjoyed following the Christmas Calendar on the Royal House's website. 

Yours sincerely, 

Henning Fode

If you compare it with last year's, you can see this letter is much bigger. And was not a generic form letter like we've seen in the past.

 

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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

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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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