COVER N. 215 -  MALAYSIA

Postmark: Pusat Mel Kota Kinabalu - Sabah 07.11.22

Posted on the 7th November 2022; Received on the 19th February 2023

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Another much welcomed surprise, the more so since it allows me to tick another box in the list of countries: Malaysia.

A fellow collector took the liberty of writing me asking for a stamp swap. I will have to rapidly find something that falls within his sphere of interest to send him back, since he is probably thinking that either I didn't get the letter or I don't care to respond, given that so much time has passed since he mailed his letter. I know Malaysia is quite a long way from my little rectangle by the sea, but three and a half months is also quite a long time.... 

There is a touch of classy nostalgia in this, though.... in an age when everything is more instantaneous than preparing a cup of instant coffee, it does taste (nice pun, isn't it?) quite good to receive a letter that not only is handwritten, but also took its time to get here.

All things considered,  Thanks a lot Ka Ming! Response will be on its way as soon as possible... even if first I will have to order a couple of items to send you. All things going well, you should get it by the middle of the first monsoon....

Stamps, left to right, 

- On 12MAY2022 Pos Malaysia issued a three stamp set (50, 60 and 90 Malaysian sen) dedicated to the Waterfalls of Malaysia, each stamp featuring not only a photo of the waterfall itself but also a little thumbnail photo in the left lower corner of a flower, presumably associated with the waterfall location. 

The 60 sen stamp can be seen on the cover, and it features photos of the Tawai Waterfall  (Air Terjun Tawai) and of the Nepenthes rafflesiana, a famous carnivorous plant local to Sumatra, Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.

- The  5 Ringgit stamp featuring the Malaysian Flag over a map of the country with the distinctive silhouettes of the Petronas towers, the tallest twin towers in the world (452 m tall) and  and the Kuala Lumpur Tower (421 m) is the highest value stamp of the set of 6 definitives issued on 01OCT2016, illustrated with images of sundry themes related to the country. 

- The 10 sen stamp illustrated with an image  allusive to Malaysian Festivals,  of which 5 can be seen on the cover, is the lesser face value stamp of this definitive series. 

- The 10 sen stamp illustrated with a painting of an Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) is part of a 6 stamp set dedicated to flowers issued on 31DEC2007.

- The very beautiful boat stamps featuring  a Lepa on the 1.5 Ringitt stamp and a Bangkong on the 30sen stamp constitute a set, issued by Pos Malaysia on 29JUN22 dedicated to traditional boats.

Lepas, I read, used to be the houseboats of the Sama-Bajau, communities that used to live mostly as sea nomads but who now are settling on land so much so that their house boats are now used as fishing and cargo boats.

The Bangkong were the war boats of the Dayak people, so tells me Wikipedia, Dayaks or Ibans being noted for their strange head hunting  hobby ........😀

The postmark informs that the envelope was mailed from the city of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Malaysian State of Sabah, in the island of Borneo.

COVER N. 214 -  BRAZIL

Postmark: ACC Beira Mar Shopping - Florianópolis - SC

Posted on the 3rd February; Received on the 19th February 2023

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Another Portuguese speaking cover, carefully laid out, flew across the ocean from our brother country.... thanks a lot, Lucia, as I write it's 8ºC outside, so a cover from the tropics can only warm the day....

Cactus... the prickly buggers that manage to withstand drought and which often look like having been invented by a ceramist of the modernist period, at least that's what their strange shapes remind me of... or is it the other way around?

On 22SEP2022, Correios do Brasil issued a set of four 2.6 Reais stamps themed on succulents that constituted the country's  Mercosul issue for the year.

Mercosul is basically a free-trade community formed by South American countries. I couldn't find any particular information on Mercosul stamp issues but they probably follow the pattern of other common stamp issues, i.e. all the members issue a stamp or set of stamps illustrating a common theme.

(Well.. so much for theory. I just checked and if Brazil's issue is themed on succulents, Argentina's was devoted to beneficial insects, Uruguai's to marine life........)

Anyway, on my cover are two of the 4 succulents of the Brazilian set; on the left a couple of Cereus jamacaru, and, on the right, a Uebelmannia pectinifera.

The small 0.2 Real stamp on the lower left corner is part of the definitive series issued between 2005 and 2011, dedicated to Professions. This particular stamp, dedicated to  shoemaker, integrated the first set of three stamps, issued on 30DEC2005.

The nicely applied postmark informs us that the cover was mailed from a post office installed in a shopping centre in Florianópolis, the capital city of the state of Santa Catarina.

COVER N. 213 -  GERMANY

Postmark: Zugspitze - Schneefernerhaus 82475 - 03.02.2023

Posted on the 3rd February; Received on the 13th February 2023

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A simple, yet very interesting cover makes for a  fine surprise. Thanks a lot Alex, this was totally unexpected, so it tastes twice as good 😀.

Pictorial cancelations are great since they add an extra grain of interest to a cover. Alex tells me that the one on the cover he sent me from Zugspitze is currently the only permanent such postmark in Germany. 

Zugspitze is the highest point in all Germany. Located in the Bavarian Alps, the crest of the mountain serves as the border line between Austria and Germany and the summit is easily reachable by cable car, being a rather sought tourist attraction. 

The image on the postmark not only shows the summit with its golden cross, but also another distinctive feature of the place, the Schneefernerhaus, a former hotel built in 1931 which now is an environmental research station, where I also believe is located the  post office for postal code 82475, Germany's highest located one, responsible for the beautiful postmark.

The biggest stamp on the cover, with a face value of 1 Euro, was issued by Deutsche Post on 07JUL2022 honouring Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski, (1922-2005) an influential member of the SPD with a long political career that would see him hold office as minister of the German government for several times. Well connected in the Arab world he would play a vital part in the negotiations with the RAF - Rote Armee Fraktion during the troubled period of 1977 that would go down in history as the German Autumn  which saw the assassination of several people including the industrialist Hans-martin Schleyer and the episode of the highjacking of a Lufthansa Boeing whose pilot would end up being shot by the highjackers, his body being thrown into the tarmac at Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

The 0.10€ stamp comes from the "flowers" series initiated in 2005. It was issued on 08JUN2017 and it depicts a Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis).

COVER N. 212 -  FRANCE

Postmark: Service des Oblitérations Philatéliques - 24 - Boulazac - 07.02.2023

Posted on the 7th February; Received on the 9th February 2023

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A very French cover, with a great aviation related stamp and another with the immortal hero of the first comic book I ever read in French (or at least tried to read... it all began with the title... what the hell was a bouclier...) ... Monsieur Asterix, le Gaulois. What's not to like?? Thank you so much, Roland, for another great cover!

There was a time when West and East united to fight a common foe (although it took the foe to break the deal it had with the East....but, better late than never).

Russia and the Russian people would bear the brunt of  Adolf's narcissistic neo-Napoleonic delirium, and all help would be welcome... Roosevelt signed the lend-lease act in March 1941....under it the Soviet Union received much needed help in the form of food and military supplies, from uniforms to aircraft, tanks, ships.....to fight  against a foe that had invaded its territory...(oh, the irony?....)

France had been occupied. Brave members of its fighting forces had joined the Free French Armed Forces. De Gaulle sent pilots to Russia to form a Groupe de Chasse (Fighter Group) operating with Soviet equipment... internationalism at its best....

The group was firstly called Normandie, to honour its origins but later Stalin added the Niemen in reconnaissance of the fact that the Group had bravely fought in the battle of the Niemen River.

French Pilots in Soviet made Yak 1s…

Once there was a brutal, imperialistic foe and a great patriotic war was fought and won.

They say that history repeats itself, don't they?

- On 01SEP2017, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Normandie-Niémen Fighter group, La Poste and Russian Post issued a joint commemorative issue.The French stamp, in-taglio printed with a face value of 1,30€, is the one on my cover, beautifully illustrated with the image of two pilots, a French and a Russian, the coat of arms of the Group and an image of its iconic aircraft, the Yak 1.

Of note is the fact that although part of a joint issue, the Russian counter part is totally different, in that the same composing elements - pilots, aircraft and coat of arms - are presented as if images of golden sculptures over a reddish background.

- Le Bouclier Arverne...I must have been 10 or 11, because that's when I started to have French classes at school. There were a few French officers at Santa Maria, Azores, at the time, and I made friends with the children of the commander... that's how "Le Bouclier Arverne", by Goscinny and Uderzo came to my bedside table, I think ... a discovery....and probably weeks of effort, since every other word had to be checked in the dictionary...later I would read the whole lot in the Portuguese translation thanks to libraries and friends and my own pocket money. 

Goscinny and Uderzo created a fabulous set of characters for the Astérix stories, but there's another character that came out of the pen of Goscinny that I was absolutely nuts about: Iznogoud, the Grand Vizier...

On 02DEC2009, La post issued a souvenir sheet comprising six 0,56€ stamps with images of some of the main characters in the Asterix adventures. Further to the man himself, featured in the stamp on my cover, the sheet contained stamps illustrated with images of Assurancetourix, the poor bard who does his best to provide high quality musical entertainment during the banquet that always closes the story, Panoramix, the druid, distributing his fabled magic potion to a line of dwellers of that small village in Armorica whose inhabitants only fear that the sky might fall upon their heads,  Falbala, the beauty that makes Obélix blush, Idefix, the little dog mascot of Obélix, and Obélix, the gentle giant who fell into the cauldron of the magic potion when he was a baby.... 

The stamps are obliterated by a perfectly applied postmark as befits le Service des Oblitérations Philatéliques at Boulazac. 

COVER N. 211 - BENIN

Postmark: Cotonou RP - Rep.du Benin - 30.01.2023

Posted on the 30th January; Received on the 9th February 2023

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Benin.. What a surprise,  It never ceases to amaze me the generosity that the ever growing  list of countries covered by my blog is proof of. How on earth would I get a cover from Benin? Thanks a great lot Eric and Mathias for  helping me run the highlighter over another country in the map.

S. João Batista de Ajudá. All throughout my primary and high school years I don't recall I ever heard of it, although the fort built by the Portuguese on the coast of what used to be called Dahomey for use as an entrepot in the slave trade was to remain under Portuguese administration until it was claimed and taken by the authorities of the Republic of Dahomey, upon its independence from France in 1961.

This was probably because the sad dictatorship that ruled my country till 1974 abhorred the winds of change that had started to blow over  the empire, which in 1961 suffered three major setbacks, since to the occupation of the S. João Batista de Ajudá Fort  (which he governor set on fire on order from the dictator Salazar) history would add the annexation, by military force, of the colonies of Goa, Damão and Diu by the Republic of India and the beginning of the armed struggle for independence in Angola, which would later  spread to Mozambique and Guiné (now Guiné-Bissau). 

The fort, when it was claimed by Dahomey, had but two occupants, I read. Upon orders from Salazar, they set it on fire and fled the country. The last governor of the fort, though, would fall out of grace with the dictator (was he thinking the 2 people should have resisted, commit suicide???) since the abandon of the fort was perceived as an humiliation by the dictator, and he was later exiled for life in Mavinga, in the Southwest of Angola, in a semi-deserted area close to Zambia, as I gathered from here.

The Republic of Dahomey would change its official designation to its current formulation as Republic of Benim, in 1975, following the ascension to power of a Marxist-leninist regime in 1972.  As many a state in Africa issued out of the ashes of empires, it has not been a smooth ride all along the way, but Benim is now considered to be a democracy and its economy is showing  sustained and considerable growth (GDP rose by 7.16% in 2021).

In 1990,  the Portuguese Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation supported the costs of the recuperation of the S. João Batista de Ajudá Fort which now harbours a museum devoted to the history of Ouidah (or Ajudá as the Portuguese would call the city).  

I wonder if kids, these days, at school hear about our connection to Benin…. At last I hope so.

Stamps 

- On the 1st January 2008, La Poste du Benin issued a set of 8 definitive stamps illustrated with the national Coat of Arms: 4  2X1,5 cm with 25, 50, 75 and 100 CFA denominations and another 4 much larger - 4 x 3 cm - with face values of 200, 250, 500 and 5000 CFA. The 50  and 500 CFA stamps can be seen on my cover.

- The 10th January is an holiday in Benin since 1992. The day celebrates the designation of Voodoo as an official national Religion in the country where it was born and from where it would not only irradiate to other African geographies but  would also cross the Atlantic to land in Haiti, Brazil, Cuba and the US, as probably the sole possession the unfortunate victims of the slave trade carried with them.

Honouring the 20th anniversary of this celebratory day, la Poste Benin issued on 19DEC2012a set of 3 three stamps dedicated to the theme, with 250, 300 and 1000 CFA denominations , illustrated with a map of Benin filled with images associated wih the Voodoo cult.

The postmark informs that the cover was posted in Cotonou, the political capital of the country and siege of the Government, the constitutional capital being Porto-Novo.

POSTCARD N.101 - RUSSIA

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 18th January, received on the 8th February 2023

Postcard image: Lavochkin La-7
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Thanks again Julia for a lovely postcard of  a beautiful famous aircraft, which was lurking inside cover #210 

Looking at such amazing industrial contraptions (and I always look at them with the eyes of a visitor in a art museum) it is easy to forget that they were built with a discomforting  purpose in mind, but as history has been proving time and time again, it pays to be prepared to defend oneself from the lunacy of those who think the world is but a playground and people just images on the screen of a videogame....

The Lavochkin La-7 was the sibling of the La-5, a reliable workhorse for Russian fighter pilots in WW2, which entered service in mid-1942, from which he got the general looks, and the penultimate in line from the LaGG-1, before the end of the run  achieved with the La-9, all products of the Lavoschkin design Bureau.

Even though powered by the same engine - Shvetsov ASh-82 FN - as the definitive version of the La-5, the La-5FN, the La-7, first flown in 1943, was lighter, faster, and climbed better than his brother, due to the streamlining refinements in design like the total  sealing of the engine cowling or the relocation of the air intake, and also to the use of metal alloys for important structural parts like the wing spars, which in the La-5 were wooden and heavier due to the shortage of strategic materials in wartime.

The La-7 had a top speed of  411 mph at 6,000 m, a range of 413 mi and  was equipped with 2  ShVAK or 3 Berezin B-20 20mm cannons mounted on the cowling, being also capable of carrying 2 44olb bombs.

The postcard painting depicts the image of the La-7 of Ivan Kozhedub (1920-1991) a remarkable pilot who would be honoured  three times with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and which had already been featured in one stamp used on another of Julia's letters to me.

COVER N. 210 - RUSSIA

Postmark: ПОЧТА РОССИИ - УCОПО КАЛУГА  248097 (Russian Post - Kaluga Post Office 248097) 18.01.2023

Posted on the 18th January; Received on the 8th February 2023
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Another cover from Russia and another lovely envelope, as Julia always tries to ensure whenever sending me a letter. Thank you so much, Julia. I'm always very pleased to receive your covers and postcards.

I have to confess my ignorance regarding the personality that the Russian pre-stamped envelope honours, so, as usual, I consulted Google who pointed me towards his potted bio in Wikipedia.

Another Russia based biographic site expanded a bit the information and so I learned that  John Aldrige (1918-2015) was an Australian-British Author, whose most noteworthy novels are set against the backdrop of the Second World and the Cold Wars although he would also write children and teenagers books, for which he equally gained some international recognition.

Upon reading these articles, I  made a note to try to find his first novel, "Signed with their Honour", because not only the reviews look good, but also it should make for an entertaining read for a vintage aviation fan, like my own self. 

From the biographical notes I consulted, Aldridge was also ideologically close to the USSR, so much so that he was awarded the International Lenin Prize "for strengthening peace between peoples" in 1972, hence, probably, his inclusion in the list of personalities honoured by rusmarka with its line of commemorative self-stamped envelopes.

Besides the printed stamp on the envelope, there are two more stamps on it, left to right:

- On 31JUL2014 the Russian Postal Administration issued a set of 4 20 Rubble stamps on the occasion of the centenary of the beginning of the First World War. 

The one on my cover is dedicated to the Erzurum Operation, January-March, 1916, a Russian offensive against the Ottoman forces that culminated with the capture of the city of Erzurum, a strategic city in Eastern Anatolia, and its fortress.

- The MS Mustai Karim - is a luxury river liner, built in 2019, which according to a Russian tourism site " takes its name from the illustrious poet, writer and playwright who was awarded People's poet of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1963 and who won the Lenin Prize in 1984".

The 18 Ruble  stamp celebrating this particular vessel was issued on 08SEP2022.

COVER N. 209 - SPAIN

Postmark: 13-Suc.1 Ciudad Real - 02.02.2023

Posted on the 2nd February; Received on the 8th February 2023
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About time I send something to myself...

Quijote, the monumental hero created by the monumental writer Cervantes....and a part of Spain that I had never visited before although quite close to the Capital... my first day of travel on a 4 day weekend that would take me trough several places linked with both the creation and its creator would see me getting to the post office at Ciudad Real, just about 15 minutes before closing time. 

"could I have some nice stamps, for  a couple of letters to send to fellow collectors, please?" 

"Sorry, not here, only in the central post office. Here we  only have these sets of 5 self-adhesive stamps, nothing else"

Since these would be better than nothing and I didn't have the time to go to the central post office before closing time, I bought the self-adhesive strip and asked the friendly clerk to hand stamp a couple of letters, but it really annoys me that buying stamps at a post office is becoming such a difficult task, both in Spain and here in Portugal....

Should Quijote be alive today and he'd be fighting the Post office, not the wind mills,...

X Solidaria is an initiative that aims at collecting funds to be distributed and invested in social projects by NGOs, simply by ticking a box in the yearly income tax declaration, thus earmarking a percentage of the collected tax for this purpose.

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the initiative, Correos de España issued this self-adhesive Tariff B (up to 20 g anywhere in Europe)   on 10May2019.

COVER N. 208 - COLOMBIA

Postmark: Cuatro Setenta y Dos - El Servicio de Envios de Colombia - PV El Poblado -17.01.2023

Posted on the 17th January; Received on the 7th February 2023
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Travelling is reading the world by the light of discovery, 

In fact, no travel chronicle, book of voyages, TV documentary, as good as they might be, can replace the infinite pleasure of sensorial acquisition that only actually "getting there" permits. 

Sights, sounds, tastes, smells, all generating a differing signature, an entity, a being, both physical and abstract...  minimal units of signification that bound together pulsate into that most intangible but self-imposing and easily perceivable dimension we call culture.  

Oh Lucky the ones who travel for leisure, for knowledge, for pleasure, for theirs is a different world from that of those who travel for need... and yet, being the former is of utmost importance so as to ensure that the latter need not be...

Travelling with open senses, and soul, constantly absorbing novelty, difference, equating it against our own backdrop of dos and don'ts; perceiving the difference, respecting it and trying to understand it... an holistic exercise of empathy... that's the foundation on which travelling should be exerted by the traveller, the lucky traveller who goes out to see the world for his/her own enrichment and pleasure.

At least that's the way I see it and that's what i tried to transmit to my daughters who from tender age would accompany mum and dad in their summer holidays tours across Europe...

Almost 30 years past and I still can hear my youngest daughter saying "no, no, churches and castles, no. I don't want to see more churches and castles..."

and yet the seed was sown.... and now I am always tremendously happy when I learn that one of my daughters is going away to visit churches and castles on her own...

Thank you Marta for having had the patience and care to go to the post office and send father this cover fully laden with great stamps... 

In fact, upon learning that Marta was to go to Colombia on holidays, I immediately prepared a bunch of envelopes to send to friends. Unfortunately, due to the price of postage being a bit steep, she did not post all the letters but those she didn't send, she was kind enough to send a postcard to the name and address on the envelope, since she tells me postcard tariffs were much lower than to send a letter... probably a matter of registration, I presume, because I cannot understand why posting a postcard could much cheaper that posting a normal letter...

Anyway, my letter arrived 20 days after posting in perfect shape and I can only thank my daughter again for her help. I hope the churches were great (at least she hadn't any castles to visit in Colombia, I presume :-))

Stamps

- Covid-19, no need to tell anyone about it. all over the world, public health structures and all the vast plethora of professionals that keep them alive fought a merciless battle against a new foe, so small it could not be seen, but deadly none the less, as the 142 thousand deaths registered in Colombia up to now, so clearly illustrate.

Many were the postal administrations all over the world that issued stamps as a way of honouring all that were directly involved in the fight against the new Corona Vírus, or raising awareness on public health measures, or other public concerns, such as the tremendous effort that had to be made so that students could still have access to education when confined at home. The  10,000 Colombian Pesos stamp issued on 26AUG2020, honours this effort,  while also trying to raise funds to support the "Computers in education" programme, under the legend- “Colombia reescribe su historia - Colombia rewrites its history.

- The 74th anniversary of the Military Communications Unit is the subject of the 20,000 Pesos stamp issued on 31AUG2018

- On 01DEC2021 4+72, the Postal operator of Colombia issued a minisheet - comprising eight 5,000 pesos stamps themed on numismatics, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the country's independence. The stamp on my cover features a one peso banknote that I presume would have been one of the first  such notes issued in the country.

Colombia has many natural parks and sites and since 2019 its postal administration has been issuing sets dedicated to them.  On the is cover there are four such stamps: two 2,000 Pesos stamps from the 12th issue that began to circulate on 09NOV2022, dedicated to Districto Nacional  de Manejo Cinaruco and Parque Nacional Natural Cordillera de los Picachos and two 200 Pesos stamps from the 7th series, issued on 20JAN2021, featuring a Begonia and an image from Parque Nacional Natural Munchique.

The postmark tells us hat the letter was posted from the community of El Poblado, in the city of Medellin.

COVER N. 207 - MONACO

Postmark:  O.E.T.P Principauté de Monaco 30.01.2023

Posted on 30th January; Received on the 6th February 2023
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Thank you so much Roland for another nice cover from Monaco.

A rather uncommon and well devised theme was chosen by the Office Emissions des Timbres Poste of the small Principality bordering the Mediterranean, for a rather pricey stamp issue that began to circulate on 05OCT2021, comprising four stamps with 2,12; 2,56; 3 and 4,71 Euros denominations.

In a country which will be forever connected with the world of the 7th art, through the memory of Princess Grace Kelly, a stamp set  dedicated to Films shot on its territory makes perfect sense to me, and on top of that it has an aura of uncommonness that can only add in interest.

The rather large stamps replicate advertising posters for 4 movies shot in Monaco, the one on my cover being "The racers" or "Le cercle infernal" in the French translation, a 1955 Cinemascope film starring Kirk Douglas, Bella Darvi and Gilbert Roland, in a classic lover's triangle erected against the backdrop of car racing, also a subject to which Monaco is no stranger, of course.

Reading about the film did strike a spark somewhere in my brain as I do have a recollection of having watched it, on TV, ages ago... stamps and memories....

The postmark is very clear and impeccably applied as befits a mark from a national stamp issuing office. 

COVER N. 206 - FRANCE

Postmark:  Bureau Philatélique 69 - Lyon Bellecour 23.01.2023 Paris 

Posted on the 23rd January; Received on the 27th January 2023
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She was the longest ruling monarch that ever was. Having succeeded her father in February 1952, at the age of 25, and received Britain's  crown and sceptre the following year,  she would hold on to the throne to the best of her abilities, for a full 70 years,  until death did them part, on the 8th September, last year.

Loved by many, (with others, consequently, holding on to the other side of the coin) hers is the image of someone who lived  a life devoted to the cause of keeping the British Monarchy unscathed by the shards of a world that was fast expanding, evolving and transforming. Britannia would no longer rule the waves, the empire would come to an end, wars would be fought, the UK would become a star in a flag (and now refuse the same flag altogether), the Irish question would escalate and finally subside (up to a point), family matters would be the source of tensions and drama, and all this always under the spotlight of the love/hate relationship that the British Monarchy has always endured with the press, be it the serious or the tabloid and pink. Not an easy task, if I may say so....

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary is arguably  the most famous monarch of modern times, on par with Louis XIV in the raking of  quizzeable "name a sovereign" crown holders.

Monarchy, although conceptually anachronistic the way  I understand it, is nevertheless here to stay, it seems, if not for anything, for cultural, traditional, social and political organisation reasons. But an uncompromising vision should also highlight the fact that monarchies are a brand. a sellable product. Some more than others, of course, but the British Monarchy  must rank high amidst its peers, in terms of generated revenues, as a quick google check allows us to confirm.

Now, what has this to do with stamps?

Well, Queen Elizabeth herself had an interest in philately so we are told, having maintained and expanded the Royal Philatelic Collection, one of  most famous collections in the world. 

But this is not the main reason why so many states were quick to issue stamps celebrating the Queen after her passing, last year. In fact, several postal administrations were fast on the draw, issuing celebratory sets, honouring the image of Elizabeth II. So fast that there were even problems with unchecked dates on at least an infamous Tuvalu issue issued by the highly criticized IGCP agency. 

Most of these issues, nonetheless, were to be expected, since at least the 54 members of the Commonwealth had a strong connection with the British Monarchy, but again I think the high brand value of the institution was not forgotten, and the fact that these issues would be good sellers must have been considered in the decision.

Some days ago I got this nice cover from France, Thanks a lot, Eric!

France is not a member of the Commonwealth of course, but is Great Britain's closest neighbour, and a special relation exists between the two countries, forged in blood, sweat and tears, even if every once in a while a little quarrel emerges, (fishing rights, anyone?) just like in any longstanding relation.

Maybe it was this fact that prompted La Poste to issue a collectors set on 19SEP2022, just 11 days after the passing of the Monarch, comprising 4 stamps for International mail (1,65 € at the time of issue), of which two can be seen on my cover, but I wouldn't be surprised if marketing considerations were also ...considered...

The Postmark indicates that the cover was mailed from the Bureau Philatélique of Lyon.

Thanks a lot Eric. Great surprise.