[ad_1]
Hundreds of people will soon be receiving a very special delivery in Buckingham Palace's mailbox.
Every year, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh send about 750 Christmas cards featuring a royal photo.
The personal cards, which the monarch has been sending since her first Christmas as Queen in 1952, still include the handwritten signatures of "Elizabeth R" and "Philip", as well as their official cyphers.
So, who are the lucky recipients?
The royal family's official website explains that, although cards are sent to "family, friends, and members of the royal family," many non-royal people also succeed.
The British and Commonwealth prime ministers (Malcolm Turnbull has just been missed, but Scott Morrison will probably receive one), the governors general (Sir Peter Cosgrove will be on the list) and the high commissions will also generally receive a card.
Prince Philip sends 200 additional Christmas cards to "various regiments and organizations close to him".
Other members of the royal family have also sent their own cards over the years, including Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
In recent years, Charles shared a card with his second wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.
Now that Prince William has founded his own family with Kate Middleton, they send a separate card with their children. We could even see the first official Christmas card of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, newly married, this year.
According to BBC News, a collection of 35 Christmas cards sent by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip between 1959 and 2001 was auctioned at $ 2712 last year in Gloucestershire.
But it is not only the cards that His Majesty sends to Christmas.
All members of the Royal House will receive real gifts from the Queen. She will also donate approximately 1,500 Christmas puddings to the palace staff, postal workers and the palace police as a thank you for their services.
The pudding tradition was also followed by his father, King George VI, and his grandfather, George V.
The Queen will also donate Christmas trees to Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh's Canongate Kirk, and churches and schools in the Sandringham area.
Source link
