Royal Mail: how to write to the Royal Family

The King and Queen receive thousands of items of correspondence each year, many from the people in the UK and Commonwealth, but also from across the world. Many of you will want to write to Their Majesties throughout the year to send your well wishes on special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas , but what things must you do? And what should you avoid? Here’s your guide how to write to the Royal Family.

[themoneytizer id="17342-1"] How should I write my letter? Firstly you should decide your topic: is it a congratulatory message for an anniversary or birthday? Did you have a question? Or did you just want to show your support for a member of the Royal Family's work? From this, find up to three main points you want to cover - this will help with structure and save you rambling...!

If you wish to keep to the correct forms and traditions in your letter, follow these tips. If you do not, that is also perfectly acceptable, and your letter will still be read - this is merely the formal and traditional way of writing to a Royal.

[caption id="attachment_3530" align="aligncenter" width="747"] How should you write to a member of the Royal Family? [The Queen's desk aboard Royal Yacht Britannia][/caption] [themoneytizer id="17342-16"] LAYOUT:

Your address should be in the top right hand corner, followed by the date beneath this, aligned on the right. You may include the address you are sending your letter to on the left, parallel with your own, though this is optional.

The first sentence of your letter should always be indented, roughly to where the comma on the introduction is.

Sign your letter and include both your first and last name at the bottom, as well as your title: Mr, Mrs, Dr. etc. Children should include their age.

LANGUAGE:

When writing to The King, tradition dictates you should open with 'Sir' and close the letter with 'I have the honour to be, Madam, Your Majesty's humble and obedient servant'.

For The Queen, start with 'Madam', and close it in the same way.

[themoneytizer id="17342-2"] You may also use 'Your Royal Highness' where appropriate for both men and women.

It is generally good practice to state what you wish to talk about in your letter early on, the first paragraph is preferable, but using 'I am writing to...' is considered poor form.

In the body of the letter, when you wish to use the pronoun 'you', if writing to The Queen, you should instead write 'Your Majesty', and adjust it appropriately for the possessive pronoun: e.g. 'your work' becomes 'Your Majesty's work'. For any other Royal, it is 'Your Royal Highness' work' etc. Debrett's recommends you write to the Private Secretary and therefore refer to the Royal as 'Her Majesty' or 'His/Her Royal Highness' - it is entirely up to you.

Please note, this style is not compulsory, just the very traditional way to write, which can sound old fashioned and stilted nowadays; it was once on the British Monarchy website, but has since removed this from their site, likely for this reason.

Try and keep your letter brief, no more than a page if possible.

As the other members of the Royal Family are not the reigning Monarch, there is no need to end it with the 'obedient servant' line, as above. You can simply round off with 'Yours faithfully', though 'Yours sincerely' is also acceptable.

Look what came in the mail ☺ pic.twitter.com/r30zfiV4nu

— Katie (@Katiemidleton) September 8, 2016 CAN I SEND GIFTS?

It is not recommended that you send any gifts with your letter. Gifts - particularly corporate ones or samples of products - are sometimes returned. If you do include a gift, remember it will likely increase the cost of postage.

Photographs of a Royal that you have taken are normally ok, though bear in mind whether it is appropriate, and if it is the only copy you have.

Children often send drawings to the Palace, and these are perfectly acceptable, just remember you will likely not get it back, so perhaps make a copy of the piece you are sending.

[themoneytizer id="17342-3"] Where should I send my letter? If you want to write a letter to The King or Queen, send it to this address:

His Majesty The King / Her Majesty The Queen Buckingham Palace London SW1A 1AA

though the couple still reside at Clarence House at present, so you might choose to send it here instead: His Majesty The King / Her Majesty The Queen Clarence House London SW1A 1BA

To write a letter to The Princess Royal or Princess Alexandra, just swap the name, as they all have their offices at Buckingham Palace - and remember everyone else is styled as His/Her Royal Highness! Feel free to abbreviate these styles to HM or HRH.

More rare, letters to Princess Beatrice or Princess Eugenie should also be sent to Buckingham Palace.

You can send at letter to The Prince and Princess of Wales (William and Catherine):

Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales Kensington Palace London W8 4PU

Post for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex should be directed to their team in the US.

It's important to note that whilst The Prince and Princess of Wales do not live in Kensington Palace anymore (they have moved to the Windsor Estate ) their offices are still based in the London residence.

Here are the other royal addresses you might want, if writing to the Royal Family.

Their Royal Highnesses The Earl and Countess of Wessex Bagshot Park Bagshot Surrey GU19 5PL

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester Kensington Palace London W8 4PU

His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent St. James's Palace London SW1A 1BQ

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent Wren House Palace Green London W8 4PY

Debrett's recommends you address the Private Secretary on the envelope and also add the most senior appointments the Royal has too, e.g. KG, GCVO, (Knight of the Garter, Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Victorian Order), though neither are strictly necessary.

Don't forget your stamp!

[themoneytizer id="17342-28"] Will I get a reply? The vast majority of correspondence is replied to, be it from Britain or abroad, so the chances are, although it will take a while to receive (especially if you have written to a very popular member of the Royal Family or at a busy time), you will almost certainly receive something eventually!

Christmas is perhaps the busiest time of year to send cards and letters, so at this time you may be unfortunate enough to be missed out.

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Most of the time, the reply will be from a lady-in-waiting, equerry or secretary, so do not be too disheartened if the Royal you have written to is not the one who sent the reply - they lead busy lives, and, sadly do not have the time to reply to everyone. This is the most efficient way of responding to ensure everyone can be responded to.

Occasionally, there will a personally signed response. Queen Camilla often personally signs her letters, but few other members of the Royal Family do or can.

Don't wan't a reply?

If, for whatever reason, you do not wish to receive a reply (but who doesn't?!), simply leave out your own address from the letter, though this can look a little odd, as this is the correct format for written correspondence.

An alternative is to simply state you do not require a response, e.g: 'I am aware your time is precious, therefore I do not require a response. Thank you.'

Waiting... You will know instantly when your response comes through the letterbox: letters from the Palace are on thick, cream coloured paper, and the envelope will be franked from Buckingham Palace, also with the King's cypher on it.

The letter will have a letter head from whichever office you sent it to. If a letter was written at Balmoral or Sandringham, the relevant stationery will be used.

Have photos of your own royal letters? Share them with us!

Image of The Queen's desk on Royal Yacht Britannia: Scot Rocher

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