Between festive after-work socialising, planning what we'll wear to the office party, and shopping for the perfect Secret Santa gift, we've barely had time to finish off our Christmas card list this year. If that sounds like you, too, then listen up... before you finalise your own Christmas card list, consider adding a few royals on there because you may well get a festive message in return.
Yep, as it turns out, anyone (really, anyone!) can send members of the Royal Family a personal Christmas card (or any mail, for that matter), and you could receive a reply from the relevant royal office if you include your return address.
How to write to the Royal Family
As mentioned, you can pretty much write to any member of the Royal Family, but they all have different mailing addresses, so make sure you post your Christmas card to the right one. Scroll on for details of the Royal Family's postal addresses:
The Prince and Princess of Wales
Mail to: TRH The Prince & Princess of Wales, Kensington Palace, London, United Kingdom, W8 4PX
King Charles
Mail to: His Majesty The King, Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh
Mail to: The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Bagshot Park, Bagshot, Surrey GU19 5PL
Everyone's clicking on...
Princess Anne
Mail to: The Princess Royal, Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex
There's no mailing address for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, because the Royal Household is unable to accept correspondence for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
How long does it take to get a reply?
The waiting times for a reply depend on the royal and the royal office you've contacted, as well as the time of year. Christmas, for example, is a busy time of year, so the time you wait for a response may be longer than usual.
What kind of correspondence will not receive a reply?
There's no strict protocol about what message to include when you write to the Royal Family, but the official Royal Family site has some details on what isn't acceptable to send, especially if you're mailing the King.
"The King is shown almost all of his correspondence on a daily basis by one of his Private Secretaries, and he takes a keen interest in the letters he receives," the contact page for the King says. That being said, "as a constitutional Monarch, His Majesty does not intervene in any political or personal disputes, and letters asking him to do so will receive a standard reply to this effect."
For security reasons, "unsolicited gifts" also won't be accepted by the King's correspondence team.
BRB, off to post some Christmas cards...
