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King Charles and Queen Camilla just made the day of some English schoolchildren with a special mail delivery.
Mayfield Preparatory School in the West Midlands shared on Twitter Friday that their students received a royal reply from the King, 74, and Queen, 75, after the pupils wrote to them to mark their May 6 coronation.
“This week the school received a letter and card from His Majesty King Charles and Queen Camilla, thanking the pupils for writing to them on the occasion of their Coronation,” the school said. “The Head of the Royal Correspondence, Thomas Claridge, wrote the letter on their behalf. How lovely!”
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The card featured the official portrait of King Charles and Queen Camilla taken at Buckingham Palace following the crowning ceremony. The couple appear in full royal regalia, including their crowns — while the monarch posed in the Imperial State Crown (he was actually crowned with the St. Edward’s crown before swapping it for the other headpiece to leave the ceremony), his wife sported the Queen Mary’s Crown on the big day.
The front of the card featured Charles and Camilla’s joint cypher, which first publicly appeared last month on the cover of the Royal Ascot horse races program.
Inside was a sweet message: “We were deeply touched by your most kind and thoughtful message following our Coronation. We are enormously grateful to everyone who took part in the celebrations that you so generously took the time to write to us on this very special occasion.”
The card also featured King Charles and Queen Camilla’s royal signatures. Both signed their first name followed by the letter “R,” which stands for “rex” (the Latin word for king) in Charles’ name and “regina” (the Latin word for queen) in Camilla’s signature.
In addition to the card was a letter printed on Buckingham Palace stationary from the Head of the Royal Correspondence, Thomas Claridge.
“The King has asked me to thank you for your charming card, sent in celebration of Their Majesties’ Coronation,” Claridge wrote. “The King was deeply touched that you should have taken the trouble to write, and would have me convey his warmest good wishes to all the pupils and staff at Mayfield Preparatory School.”
He continued, “I am to thank you once again for your thoughtful message at this time of celebration.”
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In May, the school shared photos of a card made and signed by the students as well as replicas of King Edward’s Crown. Children also made spectres and orbs in anticipation of the crowning ceremony.
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The latest Sovereign Grant report showed that it was the “busiest year on record” for royal mail.
Buckingham Palace received 183,207 items of correspondence from April 2022 to March 2023, including 115,244 items received in the seven months after Queen Elizabeth’s death. In addition, the palace received 50,856 applications to the Anniversaries Office — 34,576 applications related to anniversary cards and 9,060 related to milestone birthdays.
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The British royals are known to send replies to the well-wishers who write to them on anniversaries, birthdays and other special occasions. Queen Camilla even joked at the passing of time in response to someone who congratulated her and King Charles on their wedding anniversary earlier this year.
“Thank you for your thoughtful message for our 18th Wedding Anniversary,” the typed message on Camilla’s personalized stationery read. “It is hard to believe how quickly time has flown by…!”
