Actress and comedian Miriam Margolyes revealed that her correspondence with the King began when he wrote to her about her 1998 audiobook recording of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twistand that they have since exchanged numerous notes. Like Lette, she is a great admirer of King Charles, commenting that “he does a huge amount people don’t know about”. Margolyes always hand-writes her letters to the King and never uses a computer, she said, “because I don’t want him to feel that somebody else could see what I write and what he writes.”
It seems very likely that the King similarly prefers the pen to the keyboard. He recently described Dinah Johnson, founder of the Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society, as “inspirational”, and it’s been estimated that, while Prince of Wales, he wrote about 2,400 letters a year, or six and a half letters every day – many to members of the public, and many of them handwritten.
That speaks to his estimable sense of duty, and also supports Queen Camilla’s view that he is something of a workaholic. Royal expert Richard Kay reports that the King is often to be found in his study late at night, long after his wife and staff have retired to bed, still working on his correspondence. He doesn’t seem to rely on a secretary, instead choosing to put pen to paper himself.
A royal source said that letters from the public often catch the King’s eye because of the issues they raise, and that the letter-writer will then receive a personal letter from him. The source added: “It is all about listening. [the King] says we only learn when we listen and when members of the public write to him, that is a form of active listening.”
The King is also renowned for his compassionate letters at difficult times. Actor Richard E Grant struck up a friendship with King Charles when he became an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, and was subsequently invited for a weekend at Sandringham, and later to King Charles and Queen Camilla’s wedding. In his book Pocketful of HappinessGrant writes that when his wife Joan was diagnosed with lung cancer, the King sent her “a two-page, handwritten letter, full of love, compassion, empathy and encouragement.”
The King gained a new pen pal in 2020 when he wrote a get-well letter to Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald after she tested positive for Covid. “I thought that was tremendously kind and I responded,” said McDonald. “He had Covid as well. This virus makes unlikely allies of us all.” She later conveyed her sympathies, in letter form, following the death of Prince Philip.
