Queen's December heartache marked with special royal gesture

Queen Elizabeth II records her annual Christmas broadcast in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle on December 23, 2021 in Windsor, England.
(Image credit: Getty Images / Victoria Jones - Pool)

Lucky royal fans have been receiving touching letters from the Queen, thanking them for their support during her first Christmas and New Year's Eve without Prince Philip. 

The Queen has been penning heartfelt letters to royal fans, thanking them for their kindness and support in the lead-up to her first Christmas without her husband, Prince Philip.

Last year was a particularly difficult year for Her Majesty, with many royal experts calling it the ‘worst year ever’ for the Queen, whose husband Prince Philip passed away in April 2021. 

Christmas at Windsor Castle is shown here with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip shown putting finishing touches to Christmas tree, in a photo made recently during the filming of the joint ITV-BBC film documentary, The Royal Family.

The Queen also faced another disappointing Christmas, as she canceled the family's festive party for the second year in a row, due to the Omicron variant. Traditionally the whole royal family spends Christmas at Sandringham. However, due to safety concerns, the Queen had a more low-key celebration at Windsor Castle, meaning she had to scrap her beloved traditional Christmas yet again. 

Now, royal fans who sent the Queen letters and Christmas cards are receiving replies on behalf of Her Majesty.

A photo posted by on

One fan posted their letter to Instagram, which was written by the Queen’s lady-in-waiting, Annabel Whitehead.

"The Queen wishes me to thank you for the message you sent for Christmas and the New Year, which is greatly appreciated," the letter says. 

"Her Majesty has been most grateful for the particular kindness and support shown to her over the past year and I am to thank you very much for your thoughtfulness in writing at this time."

The letter was printed on official Windsor Castle stationary and the lucky royal fan captioned the post excitedly, "I love getting hand-signed letters and this is signed by one of The Queen's ladies-in-waiting, Annabel Whitehead!"

These letters are made all the more special, as this year is the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70th year on the throne.

Naomi Jamieson
Lifestyle News Writer

Naomi is a Lifestyle News Writer with the Lifestyle team and has recently earned her Gold Standard Diploma in Journalism from the NCTJ. She has a background in design, having studied Illustration at Plymouth University but has taken a leap into the world of journalism after always having a passion for writing. She currently writes pieces on beauty, fashion, and entertainment for Goodto.com and My Imperfect Life.