On 8 September, the end of an era died with Queen Elizabeth II. However, the art of writing letters seems to have prevailed.
‘God Save The Queen’ would no longer be the go-to mantra for royalists, and news reporters had to become comfortable with their tagline changes from ‘Her Majesty’ to ‘His’ after Queen Elizabeth passed away at 96-years-old.
Over and above these changes, the UK lost its matriarchial royal compass; while many opened up a contested can of worms related to Queen Elizabeth’s rule, others were struck with grief wishing for little more than to share their condolences with the royal family.
Recently, the Royal Family shared just how many letters and cards they’d received, before sharing that a “small but dedicated Correspondence Team” were sorting through them, reading and responding.
Just how many letters and cards were received? Over 50 000.
💌 Over 50,000 letters and cards have been sent to The King, The Queen Consort and Members of The Royal Family following the death of Queen Elizabeth.
A small but dedicated Correspondence Team are carefully sorting, reading and responding to the messages as they arrive. pic.twitter.com/DKH4tvfllY
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) October 1, 2022
That’s 50 000 people who took the time to put pen to paper. Not a quick tweet or Instagram story, but an old-fashioned means of care that those who feared we’d forgotten how to write letters as a society, might be overjoyed to know about.
Beyond letters, the ‘royal mascot’ Paddington Bear also became a symbol for the Queen’s loyalists to show their affection.
After her death, myriads of Paddington Bears and marmalade sandwiches (an ode to her Jubilee tea with the famous character) were left near Buckingham palace – so much so that the public were asked to refrain from leaving them.
Meanwhile, King Charles has already attracted public scrutiny after it was revealed that he won’t be attending the climate change conference in Egypt next month, as the BBC reports; something many found confusing given his years of environmental advocacy.
However, reports have surfaced that the decision not to go was actually an order from the new UK prime minister Liz Truss.
It’s believed that the King had indicated his attendance even before his rise to the throne.
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Feature Image: @RoyalFamily/Twitter
