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For your consideration is an original circa 20162020 joint acknowledgment card signed by His Serene Highness Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein (born 1945), Reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, and Her Serene Highness Princess Marie of Liechtenstein (19402021). Measuring approximately 4.0 by 5.75 inches, the card is printed on substantial cream textured stock with intentionally deckled edges and bears at the head the finely blind-embossed armorial achievement of the sovereign Princely House of Liechtenstein, surmounted by the princely crown and framed by the traditional mantle. Beneath appears the formal court inscription Many thanks for your kind wishes, followed by the two separately executed blue-ink signatures Marie Liechtenstein and Hans Adam Liechtenstein. The reverse is otherwise blank, preserving the restrained presentation characteristic of official correspondence issued by the princely household.
Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein, succeeded his father Franz Josef II in 1989 and became sovereign of one of Europes few surviving hereditary principalities. The House of Liechtenstein traces its documented history to the medieval nobility of Central Europe and achieved princely rank within the Holy Roman Empire before acquiring the territories of Schellenberg and Vaduz that ultimately formed the modern principality. Princess Marie, born Countess Marie Agla Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau, belonged by birth to the distinguished Bohemian Kinsky family and married the future Hans-Adam II in 1967. Upon her husbands accession she became Princess consort of Liechtenstein, serving alongside him in the ceremonial, charitable and representational life of the principality until her death in 2021.
The heraldic device embossed into the card is of particular importance. It is the formal composite coat of arms of the Princely House of Liechtenstein, incorporating the historic territorial and dynastic arms of the family within a princely mantle and crown, and identifies the stationery unmistakably with the sovereign household rather than with a commercial autograph issue. The restrained wording reflects the traditional formality of European court correspondence, while the presence of both princely signatures gives the card substantially greater dynastic interest than a single-signed acknowledgment. Although no original envelope or occasion-specific inscription accompanies the present example, the survival of Princess Maries autograph limits its issue to her lifetime and, on comparative grounds, places it most plausibly within the late 2010s.
The card remains in very good original condition, with crisp blind embossing, clean typography, pronounced paper texture, intact deckled edges, and strong blue signatures. Light handling is commensurate with genuine private correspondence and does not materially detract from the presentation. A refined and highly representative example of modern European royal correspondence from the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein and his late Princess consort, combining sovereign-house heraldry, formal court stationery, and the signatures of both members of one of Europes oldest surviving princely dynasties.
