Lydia Spencer-Elliott
SPAIN’s royal family have released a Christmas card with an optimistic outlook for the new year.
Princesses Sofia and Leonor have been captured smiling in casual but chic outfits in Somao, Pravia, Asturias.
Wearing a khaki gilet and Houndstooth coat the princesses look cheerful in front of the Spanish countryside.
The decision to include only the princesses in the card is an unusual one, as recipients traditionally expect festive well wishes from Queen Letizia and King Felipe too.
But the happy photo is accompanied by a Christmas greeting from the whole family:
“May this Christmas bring us a specially hopeful New Year 2021,” says the inside of the card.
It is then signed off ‘with our best wishes’ alongside the signatures from the two princesses, Queen Letizia and King Felipe.
As is traditional in Spain, King Felipe will address the nation in a Christmas speech on on December 24.
This year marks the most difficult of the King’s reign so far, with the financial scandals of his father Juan Carlos as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The emeritus king has also sent a Christmas card amid the allegations, but used a 16th century nativity painting by Juan Correa de Vivar rather than a photo of himself.
