Presents and Letters to the Queen
The resolution of the Royal Family to decline all presents was conveyed, in 1847, to a gentleman at Sheffield, in the following official letter from Sir Denis Le Marchant:—“Whitehall, Oct. 5, 1847: In the absence of Secretary Sir George Grey, I have to acknowledge the receipt of a small box, containing a gold bijou, sent by you to the Queen, as a present for his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales; but, in consequence of the very great number of presents of this nature which have been offered to her Majesty, it has been found absolutely necessary, to avoid the possibility of giving individual offence, that her Majesty should decline presents generally, and the box is therefore declined.” [This rule is not, however, invariably observed.]
Again, it is contrary to established rule for the Lord Chamberlain to receive any letter addressed to Her Majesty, if the same be sealed.
Sir C. B. Phipps explains in a letter the absence of her Majesty’s name from the subscription-list for the widow of the late Captain Harrison, of the Great Eastern. He states: “It is contrary to established rule for her Majesty the Queen, or the Prince Consort, to join a subscription for a private individual.”