Rare Queen Elizabeth II 100th Birthday Greetings Card

Description

Very rarely offered, this Queen Elizabeth II 100th birthday greetings card was sent exclusively to those U.K. citizens celebrating their 100
th
birthday, and I assume the extreme rarity of this card is due to only a very small percentage of the population ever reaching the age of 100 years, and of those very few 100th birthday cards actually sent by the Queen, most will, I am sure be kept by the family, and others may be lost or destroyed, hence their being one of the rarest Queen Elizabeth II cards.
The 8.5 x 6 inch greetings card I am offering dates from January 2000, and is the design for the first year the birthday card was introduced, 1999.
The two piece card consists of a stiffer outer card with the Queen’s photograph, and a thinner inside card showing the recipient’s name and birth date with the Queen’s signed customized greeting,
with
both sections secured by a gold coloured silken tassel.
The card’s text reads, “ I am so pleased to know that you are celebrating your one hundredth birthday on 23
rd
January, 2000. I send my congratulations and best wishes to you on such a special occasion “, below which is  the signature ‘ Elizabeth R ‘.
The Queen’s photograph was commissioned specially for the first 100
th
birthday greetings card, and was taken in 1999 at Sandringham House.
The tradition of the British Monarch sending a greetings to those attaining 100 years of age, was started by King George V in 1917, when he requested his Private Secretary to send a telegram greeting to those celebrating their 100
th
birthday, which back then, would have been significantly fewer in number than those reaching their 100th  birthday today.
This tradition continued until 1982, when the Post Office scrapped telegrams, and the 100
th
birthday greeting telegram was replaced with a more modern telemessage, which continued until 1999, when the Queen’s birthday greeting card was introduced.
The design for the greetings card has changed several times since 1999, as does the text of the Queen’s greeting.
The Monarch sends their greeting for the 100
th
birthday, and then again at the 105
th
birthday, and then every birthday after that ! with the oldest recipient of the Queen’s birthday greetings being aged 115 years.
The preparation and delivery of the Queen’s birthday greetings cards, is arranged by the Anniversaries Office at Buckingham Palace.
These Queen’s 100
th
birthday greetings cards are extremely rare and will continue to make an excellent and desirable addition to anyone’s Royalty collection., and with Queen Elizabeth II approaching her 95th birthday, this card has excellent investment potential.
For the privacy of this card’s original recipient’s family, I have removed the recipient’s surname, which is shown in full on the card I am offering, I have also inserted a watermark, which obviously does not appear on the original I am selling.
This Queen Elizabeth II 100
th
birthday greeting card is a rare, interesting and desirable item, which only a very small percentage of the United Kingdom’s population ever receive, and is 100% guaranteed genuine, authentic and undamaged.
Please Note :
Shipping charges for this item will be based on the buyer’s location, and the final weight and size of the packaging, which will typically be shipped via either FedEx or USPS with tracking, insurance and a signature required upon delivery, with the buyer being charged for shipping at the actual cost. Once the actual shipping cost is known, the estimated shipping charged by Ebay, will be adjusted accordingly up or down.