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if royalty makes history ...


KateGladstone

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If royalty makes history, then this belongs under Pen History.

 

According to the following recent SCOTSMAN

article, Prince Charles (*that* Prince Charles!), uses fountain pens,

spends hours at his writing-desk, and wrote 2300 letters last year.

 

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4763091 1:12pm (UK)

 

Prince Wrote 2,300 Letters in A Year

By Peter Archer, PA Court Correspondent

 

The Prince of Wales personally wrote more than 2,300 letters last

year.His office sent a further 18,000 on his behalf.At that rate, the

Prince penned an average of six or seven letters a day.He uses a

fountain pen and an eloquent and endearing, if sometimes

old-fashioned, style of English.It is said he learned the art of

personal correspondence from his grandmother, the Queen Mother, who

influenced his tastes in many ways and whose home, Clarence House, he

now occupies.His private study is at the heart of the refurbished

house, where he spends hours at his writing desk. ...

<span style='font-size: 18px;'><em class='bbc'><strong class='bbc'><span style='font-family: Palatino Linotype'> <br><b><i><a href="http://pen.guide" target="_blank">Check out THE PEN THAT TEACHES HANDWRITING </a></span></strong></em></span></a><br><br><br><a href="

target="_blank">Video of the SuperStyluScripTipTastic Pen in action
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Ah, but which fountain pen does he use?

 

Johnny Appleseed

So if you have a lot of ink,

You should get a Yink, I think.

 

- Dr Suess

 

Always looking for pens by Baird-North, Charles Ingersoll, and nibs marked "CHI"

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I was wondering about the grade of paper, myself. I'll bet it's a medium nib, with black ink, though.

 

Gads, we are such geeks.

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Hi Kate,

 

That's a very interesting article. I suppose it would be patriotic if he's using a vintage Conway Stewart or Onoto. I'm curious now.

 

Maybe we should get him to join our snailmail list. ;)

 

Gads, we are such geeks.

We just can't help ourselves, Velma! :D

You can't always get what you want... but if you try sometimes... you just might find... you'll get what you need...

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Thanks for sharing that article with us Kate - that is really interesting...

 

LOL you all must have been reading my mind as well...I was thinking hmmm...I wonder what kind of pen, and ink he uses...

 

We all know Diana, Princess of Wales used Blue/black Quink for her correspondence...Not sure what kind of pen she used though....anyone know?

 

I would like to have the time to be able to sit and pen letters all day...*sigh* but some of us have countries to rule http://img0.smiliedb.de/sdb29045.gif and little time for play LOL

Edited by Royally Inked
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Guest Denis Richard

May be we can ask one of our several FPN members who are also subjects of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to write to the Prince and ask him ?

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the Prince penned an average of six or seven letters a day.

 

Wow! ...And to think I have trouble keeping up with a few snails per month!

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We all know Diana, Princess of Wales used Blue/black Quink for her correspondence...Not sure what kind of pen she used though....anyone know?

I can remember seeing a photo of her writing a letter to a friend from an old magazine. The pen looked like either an Aurora or a Conway Stewart, but sadly the photos were in black & white and did not indicate the color of then pen too well. Nevertheless, I was impressed that it was a nice looking fountain pen.

 

Jessica, a friend of mine has a hand written note from the late Princess, and the ink color definitely looks like it was done with blue-black ink. Now I will tell my friend that she used Quink and knowing Jessica, since she is a big fan of Diana, will probably go out and buy a bottle to use it, since she purchased her first fountain pen (Waterman Expert II) last year.

Edited by Mannenhitsu

Sincerely yours,

 

Ronnie Banks

"Like a prized watch, a good fountain pen is a trusted companion for life."

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  • 16 years later...

Resurrecting this because I was searching to see if anyone had ever discussed what pens she used. There are now colour photos available from an exhibit that include at least one of them. I always wonder what kind of nib it was too, because the writing seems huge, so was she using a broad?

 

 

b38ae477b3c396aee61340800a4c7e45.jpg

image.jpeg

See my PIF post for free ink (Canada).

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This must be one of the oldest FPN threads.

 

HM is said to use a Parker  51 for personal correspondence with a special Penman ink that has been described as a shade of tangerine.

 

There is an old joke about someone calling Parker and asking them to repair his 51, he was told that they no longer offer parts or repairs for  the 51. his response was to ask, if the Queen's 51 was faulty what would you do? Parker said that they would be duty bound to find a man to do the work. The caller said that the Queen's 51 was working fine, he would send in his 51 to the Parker repair person.

 

The Queen has also been seen with a black late model Duofold on her desk. Conway Stewart used to publish a letter from the Queen on their website in which they offered to supply a pen, the reply was that this would be Okay but nothing too flashy, I am paraphrasing here.

 

The Queen's father used to give boxed Wyvern pen and pencil sets as Christmas gifts to all staff, the box was a special with a gold lid and often brown and gold cross hatching.

 

 

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11 hours ago, E.H. Tersono said:

Resurrecting this because I was searching to see if anyone had ever discussed what pens she used. There are now colour photos available from an exhibit that include at least one of them. I always wonder what kind of nib it was too, because the writing seems huge, so was she using a broad?

 

 

b38ae477b3c396aee61340800a4c7e45.jpg

image.jpeg

I wondered the same and have come to the conclusion that it must have been an English Duofold (areo filler), because the cap band, colour and shape look just like English Duofolds. I have never seen an actual identification. I looked at pics of Diana's actual desk (as taken by Paul B after her death) and this set-up (same pen and black Quink).

Must've been a B nib, the strokes in her letters look pretty thick and black ink was used most often (at times also blue and blue black), could've been a thickish M as well, certainly nothing finer than that. Even an article (Guardian I think, on one of those letters she wrote Dodi) noted her "thick handwriting in fountain pen" (not a direct quote!).

 

That "special ink colour" that Liz uses is quite possible, but there have never been any pics of it. The letters of hers that have made it into the public eye were written mostly with black ink, some blue and blue-black sprinkled in (same with Diana) and every pic or video that shows her using her P51 black ink seems to come out of the pen.

One rumour is that Parker did indeed repair an old pen for her, though Parker doesn't repair anything for anyone else, esp not old pens.

 

Audrey Hepburn seems to have loved turquoise ink and stubby nibs.

 

I like to google famous personalities' letters and them at their desks, it's quite fun and interesting to see their handwriting! Grace Kelly wrote quite legibly.

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7 hours ago, Olya said:

I wondered the same and have come to the conclusion that it must have been an English Duofold (areo filler), because the cap band, colour and shape look just like English Duofolds. I have never seen an actual identification. I looked at pics of Diana's actual desk (as taken by Paul B after her death) and this set-up (same pen and black Quink).

Must've been a B nib, the strokes in her letters look pretty thick and black ink was used most often (at times also blue and blue black), could've been a thickish M as well, certainly nothing finer than that. Even an article (Guardian I think, on one of those letters she wrote Dodi) noted her "thick handwriting in fountain pen" (not a direct quote!).

 

That "special ink colour" that Liz uses is quite possible, but there have never been any pics of it. The letters of hers that have made it into the public eye were written mostly with black ink, some blue and blue-black sprinkled in (same with Diana) and every pic or video that shows her using her P51 black ink seems to come out of the pen.

One rumour is that Parker did indeed repair an old pen for her, though Parker doesn't repair anything for anyone else, esp not old pens.

 

Audrey Hepburn seems to have loved turquoise ink and stubby nibs.

 

I like to google famous personalities' letters and them at their desks, it's quite fun and interesting to see their handwriting! Grace Kelly wrote quite legibly.

 

I have to admit to be absolutely fascinated by the people of history and what pens they used, how their desks were arranged, what papers and notebooks they used, etc.

 

This does extend to contemporary figures for me as well, and I do find it fascinating to consider the cultural context in which the British royal family, for example, come to use particular pens, papers, and practices around letter writing and diary keeping.

 

It was HRH the Queen who inspired my first vintage pen purchase of a Parker 51. And I first used Smythson's paper because of their royal warrant as well.

 

 

 

 

See my PIF post for free ink (Canada).

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9 hours ago, Parkette said:

This must be one of the oldest FPN threads.

 

HM is said to use a Parker  51 for personal correspondence with a special Penman ink that has been described as a shade of tangerine.

 

There is an old joke about someone calling Parker and asking them to repair his 51, he was told that they no longer offer parts or repairs for  the 51. his response was to ask, if the Queen's 51 was faulty what would you do? Parker said that they would be duty bound to find a man to do the work. The caller said that the Queen's 51 was working fine, he would send in his 51 to the Parker repair person.

 

The Queen has also been seen with a black late model Duofold on her desk. Conway Stewart used to publish a letter from the Queen on their website in which they offered to supply a pen, the reply was that this would be Okay but nothing too flashy, I am paraphrasing here.

 

The Queen's father used to give boxed Wyvern pen and pencil sets as Christmas gifts to all staff, the box was a special with a gold lid and often brown and gold cross hatching.

 

 

 

This is fun to read, thank you. I often wonder how it is that Parker wound up with the warrant instead of a company like Conway Stewart, or Yard-O-Led.

 

I do wonder if anyone in the family, or the broader institutions of the palaces, uses any of the more recent Parkers which so often get bad reviews compared to the vintage models. Since maintaining the warrant is supposed to mean they are an ongoing supplier to the households, I wonder exactly what Parker is supplying them with, just ink?

See my PIF post for free ink (Canada).

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On 10/17/2021 at 6:44 PM, E.H. Tersono said:

 

This is fun to read, thank you. I often wonder how it is that Parker wound up with the warrant instead of a company like Conway Stewart, or Yard-O-Led.

 

I do wonder if anyone in the family, or the broader institutions of the palaces, uses any of the more recent Parkers which so often get bad reviews compared to the vintage models. Since maintaining the warrant is supposed to mean they are an ongoing supplier to the households, I wonder exactly what Parker is supplying them with, just ink?

 

I thought there was a separate warrant for the pens and the inks, but I could be wrong on that.

 

The newest Duofold I own-or rather actually all of them-proclaims the warrant proudly on the box.

 

I know there are some bad reviews, but I personally find the modern Duofolds, including the new one I bought earlier this year, to be quite good pens.

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12 hours ago, bunnspecial said:

Okay, let me correct myself...

 

Parker was appointed a warrant by the Queen as "Manufacturers of Pens, Pencils & Ink" and by the Prince of Wales as "Manufacturers of Writing Instruments & Inks"

 

https://www.royalwarrant.org/company/parker-pen-company

 

I have noticed the slightly older Parker packaging seems to have the warrants on them, but I'm not sure if the newer boxes do. I don't know why they wouldn't if they don't.

 

It will be interesting to see what the next generation of the family decides to do with warrants - will King William, if he chooses that name, have a favourite fountain pen?

See my PIF post for free ink (Canada).

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Allegedly, Parker wanted to stop production of the Queen's exclusive ink and sent samples of other available colours, they did not impress and the Queen through her Secretary asked Parker if they wanted to keep the Royal Warrant. 

 

Production continued of the Queen's ink.

 

There was a press conference which was attended by the Queen and Prince Philip during which Her Majesty was asked to sign a document. she said to Prince Philip, pass me your fountain pen to which he replied that he had not brought it, he had the stern rebuke of 'I told you to bring it'

 

The long term Royal press photographer Arthur from tabloid The Sun, offered his own pen which she took but with the comment, 'it's a ballpoint'.

 

I am sure that William continues with the fountain pen tradition, I would be surprised if most of Europe's Royal families used anything but a pen for official documents and personally I am quietly pleased that they do so,

 

Speaking of Prince William, were you also aware that he has a £56,000 Ducati?

 

https://drivetribe.com/p/prince-williams-motorcycles-eQ6nGo0KTRSpAAMPPjOBOg?iid=NVG_QGYlRUiRskpZdbCVfA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 6/30/2005 at 9:13 PM, Johnny Appleseed said:

Ah, but which fountain pen does he use?

 

Either an MB Martele, or Solitaire Barleycorn.  Not sure which.

Add lightness and simplicate.

 

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