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After concluding the official royal mourning period following Queen Elizabeth’s death, King Charles took a moment to thank the public for their condolences and kind words during this difficult moment in his life.
The new monarch sent out a childhood photo of himself with his late mother to thank his supporters for all their kind words, delivering the image inside a cream card with a black border stamped with his new royal cypher, as seen in a photo shared by one of the recipients on Twitter on Wednesday. The photograph of Charles and his mother was taken at Balmoral Castle in 1952 when the future king was just three-and-a-half years old. In the shot, he leans out of one of the stone windows of the Scottish estate as the queen stands smiling behind him, looking off in the distance. Queen Elizabeth would traditionally spend her summers at Balmoral, and also died there on September 8 at the age of 96.
Inside the card, the king also shared a personal note, writing, “It was so very kind of you to send me such a wonderfully generous message following the death of my beloved mother. Your most thoughtful words are enormously comforting, and I cannot tell you how deeply they are appreciated at this time of immense sorrow.” He concluded the message by signing off as “Charles R.” That new moniker reflects the royal’s recent change in title as the “R” after his name stands for “Rex,” which means king in Latin and is the signature traditionally used by the British monarchy, dating all the way back to the 12th century. Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth also signed off on her communications as “Elizabeth R,” although in her case, it stood for the Latin word for queen, “Regina.”
This was just one of thousands of thank you notes the palace has sent out in recent weeks on King Charles’s behalf. They revealed last month that, since the death of the queen, the palace has received over 50,000 letters and messages of condolence. This includes the 6,500 letters that were sent just one day after Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Prior to her passing, the palace received around 1,000 letters from the public every week containing various queries, messages, and well wishes. The palace also released a photo of a few staff members carefully sorting through the enormous pile of mail, divvying up letters intended for King Charles, Camila, Queen Consort, and other various members of the royal family. According to the palace, every single letter will be carefully read and responded to.
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