'Thanks' letter for Queen's birthday painting

Chelsea-Blue Sinclair holds the thank-you letter she received from Buckingham Palace after...
Chelsea-Blue Sinclair holds the thank-you letter she received from Buckingham Palace after sending a painting to the Queen for her 89th birthday. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.
Eight-year-old Chelsea-Blue Sinclair had something rather special to show her classmates at show and tell at her school yesterday.

The budding artist woke yesterday morning to find a letter from Buckingham Palace, in response to a painting she sent to the Queen for her 89th birthday in April.

The painting was of the Queen standing beside the royal crown and the Crown Jewels.

''I've been drawing since I was 4,'' she said.

''I really like drawing pictures for people and I thought it would be nice to do it for the Queen.''

Chelsea-Blue sent the painting to the Queen just before her April 21 birthday, her mother, Michelle Chalklin-Sinclair, said.

The envelope was addressed to The Queen, Buckingham Palace, London, England.

It was covered with smiley faces and stickers but had no official stamps.

''Somehow it got there,'' Mrs Chalklin-Sinclair said.

The envelope from the palace in reply was stamped ''royal mail'' and the letter, thanking Chelsea-Blue for her painting, was signed by the Queen's personal assistant, the lady-in-waiting.

It included pamphlets about the Crown Jewels and the Queen's working day.

''I had just remembered I sent [the painting] and I said: 'When is the Queen going to send a letter?'

''Then my dad said: 'Guess what? There's a letter from the Queen'.

''I was quite surprised and very happy,'' Chelsea-Blue said.

It was not the first time a royal letter had been received by a member of the family.

Mrs Chalklin-Sinclair, who grew up in London, received a response to a letter she sent to the Queen when she was about the same age as Chelsea-Blue, she said.

damian.george@odt.co.nz

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