Staff at a nursery in Trafford said they were delighted to receive a letter from the Queen Consort after inviting her and the King to watch their nativity play.
Homeland Day Nursery, on Navigation Road in Altrincham, wrote to members of the Royal Family earlier this year inviting them along to their ‘Bossy King’ Christmas Nativity play, which is set to take place next week.
The nativity story, which follows a bossy king who changes his ways after meeting baby Jesus, will be performed by the nursery’s pre-school Tiggers room following months of rehearsals. The nursery’s practitioner team said the play was chosen because of the topical nature of the Royal Family this year.
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Children in the pre-school group then came up with the idea of inviting King Charles to their play. On October 31, the nursery wrote to members of the Royal Family offering the invite, which also included drawings and illustrations from the children.
In a letter addressed to King Charles, the pre-schoolers, with the help of Tigger teachers Marianne and Mel, wrote: "Firstly we appreciate you taking the time in your busy schedule to read our letter. We are a preschool group aged 3 to 4 in a town called Altrincham in Manchester, we call ourselves 'The Tiggers' because we are full of energy and curious to learn.
“The reason for our letter is because the children of the Tigger room are putting on a Christmas Play called 'The Bossy King' and it's been a topic of discussion as the children mentioned "We have a king, the King of England", and are very excited about this fact, even asking "Can we invite the King and his family to see our play”.
“We talked about how a lot of people write letters to the Royal Family and mentioned that even though the Royal Family would be too busy to visit they may be grateful for an invite, nevertheless. The children thought this was a great idea and we really enjoyed colouring, drawing and using our computer to create not only this letter but the invitation enclosed. We hope our pictures made you smile."
On November 14, the nursery received a direct response from Camilla, the Queen Consort, following their invitation. The reply wrote: "Dear 'Tiggers', Thank you all so much for writing to invite me to your play "The Bossy King". I'm sure you will all be wonderful! I am afraid I won't be able to join you all for the play, but it was so kind of you to invite me, and I really enjoyed the drawings on the invitation."
The nursery also received a letter from Phillipa Southgate-Sands, the Assistant Private Secretary to Prince Edward and his wife Sophie. Southgate-Sands said that The Earl and Countess of Wessex were unable to attend, but that they ‘asked me to thank you for thinking of them and to tell you how much they enjoyed looking at your drawings'.
The response to Homeland Day Nursery added: "I am sure your play will be fabulous and very much enjoyed by your friends and families. Good luck!"
Staff at the nursery, which was awarded ‘Outstanding’ in their recent Ofsted inspection in August 2022, said they were in shock when the letters arrived as they had never expected to receive a response directly from the Royal Family themselves.
Mellissa Hood, an Early Years Teacher at Homeland, said: “The children were very excited to receive the letters, especially as I had explained that the Royal Family are very busy people.
“We had looked at pictures of the Royal family and spoke about them and then the children chose who they wanted to write the letters to. The children were especially happy to receive the one from the Queen Consort.”
Speaking about their daughter’s reaction to the letters, one parent explained: “My daughter was absolutely delighted to receive a reply from the Palace and was telling everyone she had a letter from the 'Queen Concert'!
“It's fantastic for the children to learn about the Royal Family and the new King, particularly before this year's nativity, 'The Bossy King', and what a wonderful touch receiving letters from Camilla and Prince Edward."
Lisa Roberts, Manager at Homeland Day Nursery, added: “I can’t believe we actually received a response. It is so lovely to feel that despite the busy lives the Royal family lead, they can find the time to respond to our letter.
“The invitation is still open should their plans change.”
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