The Spanish royal family have wished their loved ones Feliz Navidad with their annual Christmas card.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are joined by their daughters Princess Leonor, 12 and Sofía, ten, in the heartwarming family portrait which was shot at the sumptuous Royal Palace of Madrid on October 12, Spain’s National Day.
The family, whose official residence is the Palace of Zarzuela, just outside the capital, stand gathered on the balcony overlooking the Plaza de la Armería (Armory Square), dressed in festive shades of red with the royal couple stood just behind their adorable brood.
Fair-haired Leonor, whose official title is Princess of Asturias and who is first in line to the throne, wears a vibrant crimson frock which Chic reports is from Carolina Herrera – one of her mother’s favourite labels.
Feliz Navidad! King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are joined by their daughters Princess Leonor, 12 (left) and Sofía, ten, in the heartwarming family portrait shot in Madrid two months ago
Her younger sister, Infanta Sofía of Spain, is dressed in a smart tweed number believed to be from children’s designer Pili Carrera.
While Letizia’s outfit is partly obscured, the glamorous 45-year-old appears to be wearing a charcoal skirt suit.
Her husband, 49, looks dapper in a sharply-tailored navy blazer paired with a red tie.
The note inside the card, written in Spanish, reads ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018,’ with each of the royals adding their signatures.
This year’s offering is a much more formal affair than last year’s, where the family of four were seen hugging, in casual attire, in a garden setting.
This festive scene by the fifteenth-century painter Bartolomeo Vivarini followed by their signatures was also included in the royal family’s annual Christmas card
This time last year: 2017’s offering is a much more formal affair than last year’s (pictured), where the family of four were seen hugging, in casual attire, in a garden setting
The Royal family also sent out a message on behalf of the former King Don Juan Carols and his wife, Queen Doña Sofía, alongside a Christmas scene by the fifteenth-century painter Bartolomeo Vivarini followed by their signatures.
Their much-anticipated Christmas card follows a different format each year and in Christmas 2015 the royal couple did not appear on the card at all, instead letting their daughters take the limelight.
The previous year, the card featured two photographs captured in June 2014, shortly after Felipe took the throne from his father Juan Carlos. The images showed both the new King and Queen alone, with their daughters in the second shot.
Family affair: Signatures from the royal family (left) came alongside a message on behalf of the former King Don Juan Carols and his wife, Queen Doña Sofía, who stepped down in 2014 (right)
Letizia married into the Spanish monarchy in 2004, following a successful career as a journalist and newsreader.
She was previously married to Alonso Guerrero Pérez, a writer, but the pair divorced after just a year and by 2003 Letizia had announced her engagement to Felipe, then the Prince of Asturias.
King Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 in favour of his son, now King Felipe VI.