Princess Anne & Mark Philips Signed Wedding Present Thank You Note - No Reserve For Sale

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I am in the process of selling a small private collection of Royal Memorabilia – please see my other items. I am not a dealer, but was lucky enough to obtain some very uncommon items formerly in the possession of a member of the Royal Household that give a rare and fascinating insight into the running of the palaces and the interchange between the Royal Family and its retinue of staff. This kind of original ephemera seems to be advertised on and elsewhere for incredible sums, so it is very difficult to determine their true value. Consequently I am posting them with and will let the “market” decide their worth.

Offered without reserve is a hand-written, one page “thank you” letter from Princess Anne, the Princess Royal; and her (then) husband Captain Mark Phillips. The letter was written to members of the Royal Household thanking them for their wedding present of a Spode dinner service. Dated 13th November 1973 (the couple were actually married on 14th November, so it seems likely that the Royal Household presented their present early), it reads as follows:

“To each and everyone (sic) of you who have so kindly contributed to our marvelous wedding present – my fiancé and I would like to say a very special thank you.

The Spode red Stafford dinner service is truly magnificent and we shall take great care of it and, at the same time, will take the greatest pleasure in using it.

Thank you again for your generosity and for your good wishes which mean so much to us.”

The letter is signed “Anne and Mark” in their own hands.

While this is almost certainly an autopen letter, it offers a rare insight into the relationship between the Royal family and the members of the Royal Household who worked with them.

This is an original letter from the couple, measuring 24 x 19 cms, in excellent condition and a wonderful historical document. There are two horizontal folds where the letter was placed into an envelope (not present). The item will be sent in a reinforced envelope with the letters contained in a conservation grade PVC folder. Please see the photos, which form a part of the description, for more detail.

Good luck if you decide to offer. This would make an incredible addition to a Royal collection – and would look marvelous framed with a photograph of the Princess and Captain Phillips.

We will ship internationally and we do accept returns if the item is not as described; but we will not refund postage. International buyers, please check with us for final postage prices before checking out. We often find that the system prices postage too high and we will refund via PayPal if actual costs prove to be less than quoted. We will NOT give false customs declarations, so please don’t ask us to modify pricing on the customs forms.

ADDENDUM

There have been several questions asked on these letters – the following is provided for clarification, with thanks to an expert on this kind of thing.

The hand written, hand signed version of this letter is, like almost all other correspondence from the Queen, retained and archived by the Palace. It will not become available for sale. That letter would have been taken by the recipient, normally the Lord Chamberlain or someone on his staff, and prepared for hard copy distribution to those who had been involved in the event described. Consequently these letters are original documents, but not unique – there will be others out there. That said, I have never seen them before.

Several people have also enquired as to what an “autopen” is.Rather than try and describe it here, please class="MsoNormal">I hope that helps.

This item has been shown 73 times. Princess Anne & Mark Philips Signed Wedding Present Thank You Note - No Reserve: $154