The Fab Four Received Over 100,000 Letters in One Year
Royal watchers can't text or email their favorite members of the House of Windsor, but there is one tried-and-true method devoted fans use to get in touch with the royals: good old-fashioned snail mail.
It's a long-established tradition that those who write the royals will receive a thoughtful response—often a postcard with a photograph of the royal in question, along with a thank-you note from the desk of an assistant. Every year, people around the world send letters to celebrate royal birthdays, engagements, and other landmarks, as well as holidays like Easter and Christmas.
All that well-wishing adds up. In the Prince of Wales's annual review, it was revealed that together, Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle received 123,303 pieces of correspondence over the course of the royal family's fiscal year, which ends in March. Subtracting the 20,994 letters and cards that Prince Charles and Camilla personally received, that leaves more 100,000 addressed to the Fab Four. (For the uninitiated, that's the moniker fans have given to William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan.)
It's unclear how many royal watchers received personalized notes from the Fab Four, but Prince Charles and Camilla offered some hard figures. Charles composed 1,516 letters himself, whereas Camilla managed to write 1,382. That means approximately 13.8% of correspondence addressed to the couple was given a personal response. (The others were handled by the royals' private secretaries.)
So how does these numbers stack up to the royal head honcho's figures? According to the royal family website, Queen Elizabeth receives around 60,000 letters in an average year—but for a landmark event, like the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, that can double.
As is to be expected, the lion's share (75%) of the Queen's correspondence is sent from within the U.K. But, proving her worldwide fanbase, she still rakes in 10% from other Commonwealth countries, and 15% from those living elsewhere.
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