Farewell to Constantine II: European royalty bids farewell to the final king of Greece

The European royalty, virtually in its entirety, has fired the final king of Greece, Constantine II, who died on January 10 on the age of 82. Around 12:00 p.m., 11:00 a.m. peninsular time, the coffin of Queen Sofia’s brother has arrived on the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the primary church of Athens, the place the funeral was held, presided over by the Archbishop of Athens.

Kings Guillermo and Máxima, together with Beatriz de Holanda, have been the primary to reach. The kings of Sweden, of Belgium, Queen Margarita of Denmark and Prince Albert of Monaco haven’t missed the obsequies both, in addition to Kings Felipe and Letizia, the emeritus and the infantas Elena and Cristina with all their youngsters.

The nice absence, that of King Charles III of England, first of Constantine. Representing the British royal household, Princess Anne of England. The funeral was held amid tight safety measures, with 1,500 law enforcement officials and members of the National Intelligence Service, in addition to snipers stationed in close by buildings. In addition, drones have been deployed to observe the neighborhood of the temple.

In the primary row, to the suitable of the coffin, your complete Constantine household, headed by his widow Ana María and his eldest son Pablo de Grecia and his spouse, Marie-Chantal Miller. To their left would be the present heads of state, whereas simply behind them would be the former kings and heirs to the thrones.

Former head of state buried with out honors

After an hour of funeral, the funeral procession goes to the place the place he might be buried: the Tatoi cemetery, the place the stays of his mom Federica of Greece are. The authorities introduced that Constantine can be buried like one other citizen, with out the honors reserved for former heads of state, at Tatoi, the previous property of the royal household north of Athens.

His state of well being was very delicate for years. At the start of 2022 he was hospitalized after contracting covid and in December 2021 he suffered an ischemic assault whereas he was together with his spouse within the Porto Heli palace.

Constantine II was king of Greece from 1964 to 1973, when the monarchy was abolished by referendum in 1974. Some 75 p.c of Greeks determined they needed a republic as a type of state. After that, he spent a time residing in London, though he later returned to his homeland. The former monarch was the son of Frederica of Hannover and Paul I of Greece, he was the youthful brother of King George II, in addition to the primary cousin of the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and likewise the father-in-law of Juan Carlos I of Spain.