Madagascar

WOOT! After years of trying and some failed attempts, super excited to have a card from Madagascar in my collection now. A big thanks to friend, Lish, who, lucky me, I just happened to see on Facebook was en route to Madagascar, which she reports was amazing and nuts.

The card indicates that this is the Prince of Ankazoabo, a city in south-western Madagascar. I couldn't really find much info other than the French tried to abolish the Madagascan monarchy during their colonial rule, but were largely unsuccessful. Despite exiling the Queen to Algeria, most of the aristocracy continued to use their customary titles. There is a movement in Madagascar now to restore the monarchy, seen as a possible source of stability following the highly volatile dictatorships and transition governments of the post-colonial period.

Stamp on the left from a 2010 set of eight on flowers of Madagascar. Stamp on the right is a foundry built by as a part of a large industrial complex in the mid 1800s by Jean Laborde, a Frenchman who was shipwrecked in Madagascar in 1831 and remained for the rest of his life, developing the island's industry and eventually becoming the French Consul as well.