I received four princess letters this week! It has been quite exciting, but I must admit that I have been a little disappointed with some of my latest letters. I guess it is hard for them all to follow after the Queen of England (my favorite letter so far tied with the letter from my new pen pal in Holland). I didn't necessarily expect grand, handwritten letters from the princesses themselves when starting this project, but I did expect more than a postcard that says they do not have time to write. I would have been thrilled with photo even!
In elementary school, I wrote to President Bill Clinton twice. One of my letters did get a boring "thank you" postcard as a response (maybe this was during his scandal?). But, my first response letter was amazing! I told him that I liked his cat, Socks, and that I was writing to him with my one foot pencil. I got a letter back from the White House with a 8x11 glossy photo of Socks on the White House lawn as well as individual baseball card-sized photos of the rest of the family. I guess I was expecting something similar from the princesses.
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| Socks Clinton |
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Princess Madeleine of Sweden
My first letter was from Princess Madeleine of Sweden. I was pretty excited to hear from her because 1) Stockholm is one of my favorite places in the world and 2) "Madeleine" was my French name in high school. Plus, Princess Madeleine's letter is a favorite of The Princess Letters Project.
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| my pretty Swedish envelope |
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| my disappointing letter... |
The middle paragraph says: "In answer I regret having to inform you that Her Royal Highness - on grounds of principle - cannot meet with your request. A personal answer is only sent to Her close friends." First, I do not know what my request was that the secretary is referencing. I am figuring she is referring to my questions/wanting an answer to them? I know that princesses don't write their own letters, but I thought Princess Madeleine's secretary could have answered my questions like she did for The Princess Letters Project. Anita Soderlind, the princess' secretary, even sent her a pretty photo....such a simple thing would have made me happy too. Information about Princess Madeleine
Princess Madeleine is 29 and the youngest child of the Swedish royal family. She grew up in Stockholm (one of the prettiest cities I've been to). I have been to her "house" might I add. They Swedish royal family drove by while I was on my way to their palace when I visited in the summer of 2009, but I don't know exactly who went by. She loves to ride horses, ski, and go to the theater. She seems to be very involved in children's charities including the Swedish equivalent of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She also worked for Child Protective Services in NYC for a bit in 2006. In 2009, she became engaged, but the wedding was cancelled amidst rumors of her fiance cheating. After that drama, she moved to NYC again where she currently resides while working for the World Childhood Foundation.
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Princess Claire of Belgium
My second letter, from Princess Claire of Belgium, was just as disappointing. The second paragraph in the letter says: "I think it would be tedious to enumerate all the obligations of a member of a royal family. It is well known that the relationship of His Majesty King Albert II, and the Members of his family, with the Belgian people is the result of the conjunction of our national history and the nature of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Belgium." Ohh, my b. I should have known this...?! (I did do research before writing all the princesses, BTW.) I read this as sounding a little snooty ("It is well known that..."), but maybe it is just how I read it, or the translation into English, etc. On a better note, the letter is written and signed by Georges Vanlerberghe - Captain of the Belgian Navy/Prince Laurent's Counsellor. Sounds pretty cool, right?! Overall, after reading these, I was getting a little sad about my princess project.
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| My letter from Princess Claire of Belgium |
Information on Princess Claire
Princess Claire is originally from England. Her family moved to Belgium a few years after her birth. She does have dual citizenship in both countries now. She went to school to be a land surveyor. She also likes to ride horses in her free time (...I am seeing a pattern here). They must be very private in Belgium because I could not find much on her or how she met/married the prince. I do know she is the sister-in-law to Princess Astrid of Belgium (letter below).
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Princess Maxima of the Netherlands
My third letter is from Princess Maxima of the Netherlands. You might remember this special letter. Yep, although my princess letter was accidentally left at the Princess' neighbor's house, my letter still reached the palace. How nice of Therese to deliver it there! The letter itself is nothing special. If it wasn't for the cool story behind it, I would probably be disappointed in it as well.
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| I knew this was an official letter. |
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| I like royal crest on the top right of this letter. |
Information about Princess Maxima
Princess Maxima was not born a princess just like Princess Claire and Princess Mary. She was born a normal citizen of Argentina. In 1999, she met a guy named Alexander while vacationing in Spain. They decided to meet in NYC where she was working two weeks later. Alexander eventually told Maxima that he was a prince! They got married in 2002 after some drama concerning Maxima's father and his alleged involvement in some crimes in Argentina. Because of this, it took a while for the couple to get permission by the parliament to get married. Princess Maxima also chose to remain Catholic instead of converting, but she did have to agree that her children will be raised Protestant. Immigration seems to be one of Princess Maxima's biggest causes. As with Princess Mary, Princess Maxima stresses the importance of learning the country's language. She knows Dutch, English and Spanish. She doesn't have any official duties as a royal like her sisters-in-law, but she does do a lot of charity work and conferences worldwide.
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Princess Astrid of Belgium
My fourth and final letter - from Princess Astrid - is exactly what I have been looking for! Her letter writer answered my questions and even made a joke or two as well! My favorite part was the answer to my question about the waffles and chocolates being as good as everyone says: "...of course we consider our waffles and chocolates as the best in the world but if you put the question to the Swiss you might get a different answer. The Swiss are wrong." This is perfect!
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| Notice it is two pages as well... |
Information about Princess Astrid
Princess Astrid has been a member of the royal family all of her life. She actually completed some of her art history degree in Michigan as well as the Netherlands and Geneva (another theme of princesses = they seem to like the United States). She married an Archduke who later became a Prince. They have five children. In 1997, she joined the Belgian Armed Forces and is currently a Colonel in the Medical Unit. She was president of the Belgian Red Cross for over a decade until 2007. Currently, she is trying to raise awareness of malaria and other diseases (as she mentions in her letter).
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Which princess is your favorite so far (based on their letter or information)? Which princess are you looking forward to hearing from? I think I am most excited to hear from Duchess Kate and the royals from Jordan. Until the next letter....
