Pupil received thank you note from Queen the day after she died

Schoolgirl, nine, who sent the Queen a poem to mark her Platinum Jubilee shares her delight at receiving a response from Her Majesty’s office – which arrived the day after her death

• Lois Hanson, nine, was left ‘in shock’ after receiving a note from the Queen  
• The special message of ‘grateful thanks’ arrived one day after Her Majesty died
• The primary school pupil had sent a Jubilee poem to the Palace back in June
• Full coverage: Click here to see all our coverage of the Queen’s passing

A nine-year-old girl was left ‘in shock’ after receiving a note of ‘grateful thanks’ from the Queen the day after she died.

Primary school pupil Lois Hanson, from West End, Hampshire, had sent Queen Elizabeth II a poem in the summer to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee – and forgotten all about it. 

But after receiving a response from the late monarch on Friday, Lois and her family realised it was perhaps one of the Queen’s final pieces of correspondence.

Primary school pupil Lois Hanson, from West End, Hampshire, was left ‘in shock’ after receiving a note of ‘grateful thanks’ from The Queen the day after she died

The response from Britain’s longest reigning monarch is thought to be one of her final pieces of correspondence

The cream coloured envelope dropped through Lois’s letterbox, from Her Majesty, the day after she had passed away peacefully aged 96 – thanking Lois for her kind words.

The letter was signed ‘Elizabeth R’ and included two photographs of the Queen alongside a Royal coat of arms.

The monarch’s message gave ‘grateful thanks for your kind message on the occasion of the Seventieth Anniversary of my Accession to the Throne’.

Lois said: ‘She was a wonderful Queen and her Jubilee showed us all the wonderful things she has done for us and I wanted to do something for her.

Lois said the monarch was a wonderful Queen and her Jubilee showed us all ‘the wonderful things she has done for us’ 

‘I was in shock. I felt happy that I had a card from her, but sad because she had died the day before.’

Lois’ mum, Zoe Hanson, checked the postmark of the reply – which was 7 September 2022 – the day before The Queen had died.

She said: ‘Lois wanted to send [the poem] to The Queen and so we put it in an envelope to Buckingham Palace, never ever expecting a reply.

‘It had completely disappeared from our minds over the last four months, until the postman came on Friday, the day after the Queen had died.

‘The only letter through the door that day, it was a posh envelope, so I checked the postmark, which was Buckingham Palace, 07.09.22.

‘It must be one of the last things to come from [the Queen].

‘When it came through the post I was very excited about it – because I had completely forgotten that she’d written to the Queen, as [her Jubilee] was four months ago now.’

The letter was signed ‘Elizabeth R’ and included two photographs of the Queen alongside a Royal coat of arms and arrived in a posh cream envelope 

Ms Hanson, 47, then had to wait for Lois, who has just gone into Year 5, to return home from school.

The mother added: ‘I said to her ‘there’s something really, really important for you to open’. And she got very excited to see her name on there and that it had come from Buckingham Palace.

‘It’s just a lovely, lovely piece of history.’

Lois’ poem that prompted such a thankful reply from Her Majesty read:

‘You shine oh so bright, like stars in the night. Happy Jubilee, I know you’ll have a cup of tea. The Jubilee will be history and it’s you they will see. Happy Jubilee.’

Ms Hanson revealed that she has had to stop Lois taking the original letter into school and has instead given her a photocopy to show her school friends.

She said: ‘Lois wanted to take it to school, and I said “no, no – you’re not putting that in a school bag” because then it gets yoghurt on it.

‘I know what goes on in a school bag – well, no, who knows what goes on in a school bag?’

Lois and her mother now have the tricky task of finding a frame for the response from the late monarch. 

Ms Hanson added: ‘We’re trying to decide what happens to it. We think we’re going to get it framed. I think probably in the living room somewhere – pride of place.’

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