Somerset Primary students recently received a pleasant surprise a letter from the Queen of England sent in response to handwritten messages of their own.

The primary three class sent a package to Her Majesty following her trip here last November with Prince Philip in honour of Bermuda's 400th anniversary. The seven and eight-year-olds had enthusiastically followed the details of the Royal Visit with substitute teacher Mair Harris.

"We all gathered at the side of the road to watch the Royal Motorcade as it sped by," she said. "Later, the mother of one of the students in the class mentioned to me that if one sends a letter to the Queen, she is obliged to reply."

That bit of information gave Ms Harris an idea.

During her lunch break she purchased Bermuda post cards, bookmarks and a Christmas card with Johnny Barnes on it.

According to Ms Harris, each student was given a post card and asked to write a personal note to the Royal Couple.

Like many people who turned out for a glimpse of the Queen as she travelled the Island on her most recent visit, the girls were fascinated by her attire.

"I told the Queen that I liked her hat and that her dress was very pretty," said seven-year-old Mya. "I also wrote: 'I hope that you come back to Bermuda again, I hoped you liked your trip.' And I hope they had a safe trip back."

Said eight-year-old Jatashae Saunders: "I told her that her hat looked wonderful."

Another student, Holly Wakely, seven, said: "I drew a flower and said that I hope she comes again."

The boys were not as interested in the Queen's clothing.

Mahlon Seon, seven, said: "I drew a flower and I said, 'I hope you had a good time'."

Said his seven-year-old classmate Dharson Ravindram: "I said, 'I hope you enjoyed your visit to Bermuda'."

Ms Harris collected the children's work and sent a package directly to the Queen.

"I wasn't sure how one addresses a letter to the Queen so I looked it up on the Internet," she explained. "I found out that it should be addressed to her private secretary."

She added: "I am so glad that she wrote back. When I first got the letters I didn't recognise the letterhead but I was then thrilled to realise that the letters were from the Queen."

The letters were written by the Queen's lady-in-waiting a personal assistant to the Queen on behalf of Her Majesty.

They directly addressed the post cards and bookmarks sent to the Royal Couple and thanked the students and Ms Harris for the kind words.