One thing I have noticed over my experience writing to the Royals is that each country has a very distinctive postmark. Without even reading the country name, I know immediately this envelope was from Belgium.
This postmark is quite simple, but you will notice that the post office put it on the bottom of the envelope, instead of the top. This is so that the Postmark doesn't overlap with the Monogram.
My thoughts are that is more about making sure the computers at the post office can read the postmark and properly sort the letter, than preserving the monogram.Another interesting thing is, of course, the monogram. You have Queen Mathilde's M, interlocked with an F & P for King Philippe. The F & P stand for the different spellings of King Philippe's name in the 3 official languages of Belgium.
- French: Philippe
- Dutch: Filip
- German: Philipp(e)
Inside the envelope is the Royal Family's Christmas card. The front of the card is simple, it has a red border with the couple's joint monogram. Inside the card, is a message with a family picture.
The Message is written in the 3 official languages of Belgium as well as English: "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." The King and Queen's signatures are printed onto the card, with their 4 children's names typed below (in order of age).
I'm not entirely sure when the photo was taken. But the photo released for Princess Elisabeth's birthday in November looks like it comes from the same shoot.
This was the 2nd time I had written to King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, the first being after the death of Queen Fabiola in 2014.
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