Pair ‘chuffed’ with royal rejection letter
Liz Wylie
Whanganui woman Marie Sheppard said she knew it was a long shot when she requested a royal wedding invitation but she asked anyway.
“I found the address online and thought it was worth a try,” she says.
An invitation to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would have been a dream come true and Sheppard was pleasantly surprised to find an envelope with the royal postmark in her letter box.
The letter, signed by Deputy Correspondence Coordinator at Buckingham Palace Miss Jennie Vine, did not bring the news she hoped for but she is “chuffed” anyway she says.
“It looks like it has been written with a typewriter”.
Vine’s response on behalf of Queen Elizabeth stated that an invitation to the wedding “is not a matter with which Her Majesty can assist you”.
Although Sheppard and her husband Mike would have been happy to drop everything and fly to London for the wedding on May 19, they say the letter is something to treasure.
“I was ready to approach a New Zealand fashion house and ask for one of their top lines to wear at the wedding,” she said.
Originally from the English town of Droylsden in Greater Manchester, Sheppard has lived in New Zealand since 1982 but says she still likes to keep up with happenings in her homeland and news of the British Royal family.
She met her Kiwi husband at an Auckland Starbucks in 2003 and the couple moved to Whanganui 18 months ago.
“We love it here and the people are genuinely nice,” she says.
Her husband said it has taken a while to get used to people being friendly without having ulterior motives.
“We had become a bit mistrustful living in Auckland but Whanganui people have made us feel very welcome.”