The Queen sends private message of congratulations to North Korea

The Queen has sent North Korea a message of congratulations, palace officials have confirmed. 

• The Queen has sent a private message of congratulations to North Korea, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. 
• Her Majesty sent "good wishes" to the people of North Korea on the 73rd anniversary of the country's founding. 
• In other royal news, royal fans are confused by one strange detail of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new photos.
  

The Queen sent a private congratulatory message to the North Korean people ahead of festivities for their National day, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. 

Her Majesty shared her "good wishes" with the secretive dictatorial state, on 7 September, two days before its population celebrated the 73rd anniversary of its founding. 

“As the people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea celebrate their National day, I send my good wishes for the future,” the message, which was read aloud by the North Korean state media Korean Central News Agency, said. 

The correspondence was confirmed by the Queen's spokesperson, who explained that it was "standard practice" for Her Majesty to observe such occasions and that such acts "had been done before." 

The memo was received just days before the country's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un launched missiles in a suspected bid to gain US President Biden's attention. 

This isn't the first time the Queen has corresponded with North Korea. While the British monarch has never met Kim Jong-Un in person, she hasn't exactly ignored him either. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) official confirmed to CNN that the Queen has previously sent messages of support to North Korea on their National day, none of which have been made public. 

The Queen isn't always the first one to make the move either. North Korea has also personally reached out to the monarch in the past, even sending her a birthday card in 2014. The country's formerly second most powerful figure, Kim Yong Nam, was the face behind the surprise gesture, which "wished the Queen good health and happiness" and hoped for "wellbeing and prosperity" for the British people. 

The Queen has never actually stepped foot on North Korean soil, most likely because of its rigid traveler restrictions and longstanding skepticism of Western powers. She did visit South Korea in 1999 however, on a four-day-long trip aimed at improving business relationships between Britain and the South-East Asian country.