Thank you for your letter of 3rd December.
First of all, I should point out that you are not correct when you state that "all swans on open water in the realms of the British commonwealth are the sole property of The Queen". Some of the swans on a particular stretch of the River Thames are owned by Her Majesty and, on this particular stretch, the Worshipful Company of Vintners and the Worshipful Company of Dyers own the rest.
I am not able to answer hypothetical questions and I am sorry therefore to send you a dissapointing reply on that point. However, I have pleasure in enclosing an extract about Swan Upping from The Royal Encyclopedia (published by Macmillan) which I hope you will find interesting.
Yours sincerely,
Michelle Edwards
Information Officer, Press Office
Blogger's note: One of the most beautifully written responses I've gotten in a while. Lovely stationary, solid use of quotes, and impeccably polite. Gotta love the British. Along with the letter, Miss Edwards sent me two very informative pages on swan upping; an excerpt is below.
In the Middle Ages swans were regarded as the property of the Crown, although other people could own the birds with the permission of the Sovereign. In 1473, however, a royal charter was granted to the Worshipful Company of Vintners allowing them too to own swans on the river; a few years late the Dyers also received a charter. From then on it became necessary to mark the swans so that ownership could be established.
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