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.
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.
How should you write to a member of the Royal Family? [The Queen’s desk aboard Royal Yacht Britannia]
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.’
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
I would like to thank you for the above instructions on sending mail to the royal family .i knew some of it but not all .Being brought up by a strict royalist family .i was taught at an early age how to address our beloved queen . but know i know where to send mail too the rest of the royal family so thank you very much and long live our queen and her family thank you, veronica .
Margarita Aleksi Lafe Thu 24 September, 2015 - 5:39 pmHonorable Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, Princ William and Princesse Catherine, let me to express my best and warm wishes to your Young Royal Family. May God bless You.
Kiri Thu 24 September, 2015 - 11:59 pmHi thank you for the addresses it would be a life long goal to finally speak to an actual Queen and Prince etc, even on paper. Take it from someone who has in her time received the odd letter or two. Kiri Te Moananui
Scott Mon 28 September, 2015 - 7:42 pmClarence House is not the correct address for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry. Their household is located at Kensington Palace, and mail should be sent to the following address: Kensington Palace
London W8 4PU
Dear Scott
As stated, while The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry reside at Kensington Palace, their offices, as far as we know, have not followed them, and remain at Clarence House. Since it will be opened by a secretary or other member of admin staff, it is best sent to Clarence House.
Can I write to the queen with concerns at the way this Government treats disabled people and those who are need of help and support.
Muhammad Adrees Thu 27 October, 2016 - 12:25 pmI want to write a letter to very honorable queen but here in Saudi Arabia the post office is not accepting letter with out specific Name and phone number mentioned above the envelop, so please advise me how can I contact or who will give me the complete address with number.
Abraham Lincoln Jarwee Wed 26 October, 2016 - 9:41 amCan I write the Queen requesting for a visit as a historical day and events in my life? Meeting with the Queen? Most especially as a poor young man from one of the world poorest country in West Africa? Liberia.
Geoff Lyen Wed 19 April, 2017 - 2:05 pm There’s a typo on the website. In the addresses section you have “hignesses” instead of “highnesses” Victoria Howard Wed 19 April, 2017 - 9:47 pm Thanks Geoff – we’ve updated the article Mrs. Ana E Satchell Sat 10 June, 2017 - 6:15 pmYour Royal Highnesses Prince William and Kate: Please forgive for the intrusion but I needed to tell you that after this unsettled times in England, where dark clouds hang over us, your presence is essential to bring brightness and re-assurance to the British people. We need you. Thank you very much
Daniel R-I Thu 22 June, 2017 - 10:04 pmI am getting married in October & have a warm spot for Mer Majesty after having lived for a few years in London Post-Graduate. I am in the USA & had heard rumors that responses involving international postage were less likely to be answered. I would like to send her a wedding invite & was wondering if I should include a return post envelope with enough post to reach the USA? Would this be more likely to be responded to?
Mandy Sun 29 April, 2018 - 9:03 am Good morning. I hope to hear from the royal family it will be nice. Atefeh hoseini robat Tue 11 July, 2017 - 4:56 pmHi;
I would like to write a letter for queen of Uk
; plesase tell me about the e mail adress of her . I need her help.
Thanks in advance
Atefeh
I would like to write to Prince Harry after I met him in Sydney Australia at the Opera 2015 house in 2015. I am a quadriplegic and he spoke to me about my wheelchair and Gopro camera and a number of other matters. On my return home I had broken my leg at the train station which ruined a great day.
Then in September I came down some steps out of my wheelchair and broke multiple bones. I never got round to writing to him to say what a pleasure it was to meet him because I have had further setbacks this year and would still like to say thanks. I don’t want to get the wrong address to write to him. I see there are a few different places but if anyone could point me to the correct one I would appreciate it. I am sorry if it is not appropriate to write this information here regards Mark
Susan Glenwood-formerly known as susan bennison.
I visit my grandparents, MR & mrs nicholls in edinburgh when I was aged 4 or 5, it be over 51 years ago. I was with my parents Mr & Mrs bennison and my family. The queen was there, she looked so must a like my own mother ethel vera bennison, she swapped over from my mother and nobody really noticed the difference, she looked after us when we where children, So my mother could spend more time with my grandparents.
My mother is scottish. My grandmother maiden name Evelyn clara massie, she told me when I was aged 4 or 5, that she is related to the royal family, there is a royal links in my family background history. she told me to chase it up when i am older, the queen visit us in sutton-on-sea after grandmother died 51 years ago, she swapped from my own mother again and nobody knew about it, they talk the same, it is when she said being queen is not for the faint hearted, than I knew mother would not say that to me.
I seen the queen again at sarah wilsons birthday party, I was aged 14 at the time.. than after my father died , i never seen the queen again in real life.. my auntie looked alike the queen too, she mention the royal links too.
It has taken me over 50 years to look into my scottish background history, nobody in my family parted with my scottish families addresses. I did my own research one year ago, when the queen celebrate her 90th birthday. My grandmothers birthplace is the acorn lodge B&b dinburgh, it is a 10 bedrooms guest house, grandmother told me her parents had 9 children.
Than I found out that my grandparents got married at a church close by to the acorn lodge b&b edinburgh, they got married on dec 1920.
Grandmother did mention she had a birthplace, she never mention the address, she told me to look it up when i am older.
Nobody told me, i expected my family to tell me this news, my oldest sisters daugther went a holiday to edinburgh, she would know the families roots. my family kepted it hidden from me.
I am the youngest daughter susan, of my parents mr and mrs bennison.
CONGRATULATION AND ALL BEST WISHES PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN ,GOD BLESS YOU .Please can you help me to find an email ADRESS of Prince Henry of Wales KCVO (Henry Charles Albert David, familiarly known as Prince HARRY BECA– USE i want to CONTAct with meghan markle as soon as possible .
Sweta Tue 26 December, 2017 - 6:35 pmAnd Many many CONGRATS to wills(the Duke of CAMBRIDGE ) for expecting third child .wishing you a very pure life and pure love for you, FOREVER.
Happy New year.
Tгuly no matter if ѕomeone doesn’t be aware of after that its up to otheг visitors that they will аѕsіst, so here it occurs.
Ruth Donaldson Fri 12 January, 2018 - 3:15 amThank you so much for the information re: addressing mail to Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle. I am so happy for them. I visited Manchester and London in 1996 and stayed with friends in Warrington, Cheshire. It seems like yesterday and the memories are precious. A friend in Totton gifted me with the program from William and Kate’s wedding. and it is among my treasured possessions. I have made several friends there and we are in constant touch. My congratulations to the happy couple.
