Farewell, Prince Philip

Caption: Screenshot of various online news on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II's husband, 

the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh sourced from the Internet.

BY the time you read this, Operation Forth Bridge has been completed and the Duke of Edinburgh, the late Prince Philip has been laid to rest.

Like many who read of his passing on April 9, memories related to Prince Philip just came flooding back.

For me, it brought me back to the time I was sitting for SPM in 1986 at an all-girls boarding school in Seremban. Stressed out (and sometimes bored)  and looking for some relief,  a group of friends and I (I think there were 5 of us) decided to write to "someone famous" and get the person to wish us Good Luck. 

So there we were -- movie stars or pop stars wouldn't cut it for us, we decided to write to royalty. Not Princess Diana, our teenage minds thought, because she would be receiving too many fan mail but someone who would have the time to read through his mail and reply. Ahah! We decided Prince Philip would fit the bill.

So we sat down, the five of us, and worked on our letter. Can't remember what we actually wrote but with five heads put together you can be assured it was something creative and humourous. There was also accompanying  artwork because we had Maria (one of the best art students in our batch) in the group.

Once the letter was done and envelope bought, the five of us went on an outing to the Seremban Post Office (yes, the main post office) to post the letter. The letter was addressed to 

"Prince Philip,

Buckingham Palace,

London,

United Kingdom".

By the time we had to queue, we realised what a ridiculous situation it probably looked to the person at the post counter. So there was a bit of "struggle" who would be the one getting the stamp(s) for the letter. But someone was "chosen" and the letter got posted.

We didn't think we would get a reply but we waited for one, nonetheless. Weeks turned into months (can't remember  really but it sure felt it).

Then finally we received a letter from the UK. Can't remember how we got it -- either through the pigeon hole which held all our letters according to name and hostel blocks, or from the prefect in charge. Anyway, it was an official letter sealed and all from Prince Philip's office written by his Secretary (probably Press or Personal)!

I can't remember what the content was exactly but I remember the tone was very kind thanking us for writing to his HRH. And that Prince Philip wished us who wrote him all the best for the exam.

We were elated! Not only did the letter reached its intended recipient. Prince Philip had actually read it (we wish to think so) and had it replied to. Of course, the whole batch got to know about it because this is the stuff of legend. It's not Rick Springfield or Royston Sta Maria (of Roy& Fran) who wrote us, it's PRINCE PHILIP!

Now decades after, none of us remember who kept the letter. After school, all of  us had probably moved and Marie Kondo-ed several times over  so the letter too may have become a casualty. But we all know we received the letter and it existed.

What matters is that some random group of 17 year-olds from a small Commonwealth country wrote to Prince Philip and was treated with kindness. (I'm pretty sure our letter was quite entertaining and amusing too) Ahhhh, what a memory!