Little girl receives one of the Queen's final letters before her death
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A little girl received one of the last letters ever sent by Queen Elizabeth II before her death on 8 September.
Eight-year-old Olivia Akers from Victoria, Australia, wrote to the Queen and sent photos of herself dressed as the monarch on horseback for a fancy dress competition.
Olivia's mum, Natalie, said her daughter had put on military fancy dress and got on her pony, Lady, to dress as the Queen did for Trooping of the Colour ceremonies.
The pictures were also sent with a letter saying she loved the Queen's appearance alongside Paddington Bear and asked if the monarch really eats marmalade sandwiches.
The letter was sent back in June and according to Natalie her daughter kept asking whether there had been any reply from the Queen yet.
When the family heard news of the Queen's death, they thought that would have closed the door on Olivia getting a message from the monarch. But remarkably, they found out that there was a letter waiting for her after all.
Natalie told ABC it was 'just beautiful' for her daughter to get a reply from the Queen, with one of the monarch's ladies in waiting sending the little girl thanks for her message and saying the Queen was 'touched' to know she liked horse riding.
She said: "The lady at the post office says, 'You've got a very special piece of mail today'.
"We had a bit of a greeting card for the Queen's Jubilee thanking her for the letter, and then a personalised message from the Queen's lady-in-waiting acknowledging Liv sitting there on her 'splendid' pony."
"We all got a little bit teary to have such a special letter arrive and it's probably one of her last letters that she would have written. I'm sure Olivia will treasure that letter for the rest of her life."
The letter was dated 25 August, making it one of the last ones sent out by the Queen two weeks before her death.
While this letter may be one of the last sent by the Queen, there are other letters she has written which won't be opened for a very long time.
One letter in particular is sealed in a vault in Australia and can't be opened for another 63 years.
It's already been in there for more than three decades as the Queen wrote it back on a state visit in 1986, but nobody besides her knew what was written in the message.
All that's known is there are strict instructions to leave the letter unopened until 'a suitable day' in 2085 arises.
