In what will not be a shock to anyone who reads this blog regularly, I have many holiday traditions. One of my favourite traditions is sending Christmas cards to the Royal Family. It is not a particularly big tradition- it takes maybe half an hour tops, but it is a part of my holiday season. And receiving their cards in the mail is very entertaining! Over the years I’ve had many people ask if it is difficult and if anyone can do it- no and yes, respectively. I decided to make a guide on how you can send Christmas cards to the royals, so you can send your own.
Identify Which Royals You Will Send a Card To
Obviously, your first step is to decide which members of the royal family to send a card to. I do know of people who send cards to royals from across the world- I only send cards to members of the British Royal Family, as I can only write cards in English and French. (Yes, I know that most of the European royals understand English, but it feels odd to me to send it to them.)
I personally try to stick to the royals that are public, working royals; it makes writing the message easier and does not feel quite like I’m sending a card to a random person. If their address is not readily available on the Royal Family’s website, I do not write to them.
When and Where to Send Your Christmas Card
You can technically mail your card through the end of the year, but I would recommend mailing your card(s) by the end of November. Mail is still taking quite some time to traverse the globe, and if you wait until December 23rd to mail it, between holiday closures and mail time, it may not arrive until mid-January.
You can find the mailing addresses of the Royal Family here: https://www.royal.uk/contact. I would stick with this specific list, as it is on the BRF’s official site and will be the most up to date.
Writing Your Royal Christmas Card
The two big questions I get are: 1) how formal is my message, and 2) what do I say in my message. In terms of formality, I open the card with “Your Majesty/Your Royal Highness” and close it with “Sincerely,…”. There is no need for the over-the-top thee and thou to show up. You technically don’t even need to open with Majesty or Highness if you don’t want to. (Though I would not address them by their first names…)
Secondly, my message is usually pretty brief. I acknowledge a philanthropic cause that they have spent time working on or a trip to Canada (if they have visited that year), and then wish them a lovely holiday season as a family. It is a fairly concise message, and should not make anyone feel uncomfortable or burdened. They receive thousands and thousands of pieces of mail in a year, so an essay is not going to be read and appreciated.
Mail From the Royal Family
Each year, I’ve had one of my four to five cards not receive a response (a different royal each time). However, for the most part, I have received responses. In the past, the-then Prince of Wales/Duchess of Cornwall and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have both sent pre-printed photo cards (see above). Sometimes it is a picture we have already seen, sometimes it is not, but it is always a lovely picture.
The late Queen’s ladies-in-waiting would send a short letter on Her Majesty’s behalf, so it will be interesting to see if The King takes up this practice or will stick to the pre-printed photo cards. I am hoping that he switches to the letters, I love getting mail from Sandringham and Windsor Castle! (Changing when you send your card can mean that the monarch is at a different location when they respond.)
Do you send Christmas cards to the royals?
Cheers,
The Historian
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