Corbetta: Letter from the King and Queen of England

It’s not every day you receive a letter from Buckingham Palace. But above all, it’s not every day that you receive a letter signed by the King and Queen. If we add that the royal couple has recently been crowned, we understand that this is a more unique moment than a rare one. The witness to this uniqueness is the historian Corbetta Andrea Balzarotti Last week, an envelope arriving directly from London bearing the royal family’s crest was found in a letterbox.

Letter from the King and Queen of England

But to understand everything better, it is necessary to take a small step back a few months and return to last spring, as Balzarotti himself explained.

“In order to understand everything well, it is necessary to make a hypothesis, since history is my passion and my profession, I am also very passionate about English history and the royal family of England – explains Balzarotti – last April, a few weeks before the coronation, so I decided to write a letter to individuals The Royal Family to wish them well in this ceremony. This is not the first time I have written to the English Royal House. In fact, about ten years ago I started sending them Christmas greetings. I never thought they would be able to reply, but on all occasions they did not fail Never reply.”

Clearly, the coronation of two members of the royal family, the most famous in the world by the way, is a historic event, not only for the United Kingdom, but for the entire world, just think of the media coverage of the event.

“We have recently witnessed the weddings of the English House, but the coronation has not been witnessed since 1952, when Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne, so it was a historical event – continues Balzarotti – an event that is not only interested in history lovers, but also followed by fans of gossip, crime news and fashion from the whole world.

Message with thanks

A few months after the event, here is the response to the letter that was mailed on Monday:

“The envelope I received had the address of Mr. Andrea Balzarotti with the coat of arms of King Charles and the Royal Family – he continues – and then inside it was a folding card made of cardboard, really beautiful with decorations reminiscent of English missionaries and of English history. On the center pages, in addition to the portrait of King Charles and Queen Camilla, there is a small thank you note in English: “We are deeply touched by your dear and thoughtful letter on the occasion of our coronation. We are very grateful to everyone who took part in the celebrations and particularly appreciate you so generously taking your time to write to us on this special occasion.” And finally, the signatures of the two kings. It is clear that these feelings are always what make us understand the extent of attention to detail behind everything we see from afar from the English royal family.

Then the question arises spontaneously, but how do you feel when you write to the king?

«It is very strange, firstly because you have to think and remember the teachings of the English language from the schools, because you are not writing to a friend or an acquaintance, but to the King and Queen of England and you cannot do a grammar check» Wrong – concludes Balzarotti – then in fact it was very simple Because the King is passionate about English history and so I imagined I was writing almost to a colleague.”