The Prince and Princess of Wales are set to be part of other associates of European royalty as they congregate in Athens tomorrow for the funeral of King Constantine II of Greece.
The monarch, who was the previous King of Greece, died of a stroke on January 10 in Athens at the age of 82, far more than 50 years right after he was exiled in a military services coup.
His funeral, which is getting held at the city’s Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral on Monday, January 16, is predicted to be attended by shut spouse and children and members of Europe’s other royal households.
Amid all those in attendance will be Queen Letizia of Spain, who will be there with her spouse and Constantine’s nephew, King Felipe, as will Queen Margrethe of Denmark, who was his sister-in-law.
Queen Margrethe of Denmark arrives in Athens nowadays in advance of King Constantine’s funeral tomorrow
King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain get there at the Grande Bretagne Lodge in Athens on Sunday night
The general public funeral will see the King’s widow, Queen Anne-Marie, attend, as effectively as his son Crown Prince Pavlos, who is now the head of the previous Greek royal relatives.
Amongst the other European royals to attend will be King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, as well as Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands.
William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, could signify Charles and Camilla at the provider, Hello reports.
Constantine was Prince William’s godfather, as very well as being the nephew of Prince Philip.
Greek media report that Anne, the Princess Royal, will be at the funeral, as will Princess Alexandra, the Honourable Woman Ogilvy.
There have also been suggestions that Prince Edward and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, could be in attendance.
Deputy Prime Minister Pangagiotis Pikrammenos and Tradition and Sports Minister Lina Mendoni will signify the Greek authorities at the services.
The King had been in ill overall health in recent months, owning a number of clinic admissions to the end of 2022.
He was admitted to the non-public Hygeia Healthcare facility in Athens previous 7 days with respiration challenges, the place he was handled on the intensive care device in accordance to experiences.
His community funeral will be adopted by a 29km procession to Tatoi Palace, exactly where there will be a individual non-public ceremony and he will be laid to rest with other associates of the Greek royal loved ones.
King Constantine II of Greece, pictured listed here at the 75th birthday evening meal of his sister-in-legislation Queen Margrithe of Denmark in 2015
William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, pictured listed here at Royal Liverpool College Medical center in Merseyside on Thursday, are set to attend the funeral
Princess Anne, pictured here at Paddington Station on Thursday, is established to go to King Constantine’s funeral
When he acceded to the throne as Constantine II at the age of 23 in 1964, the youthful monarch, who had currently obtained glory as an Olympic gold medalist in sailing, was vastly preferred.
By the pursuing calendar year, he experienced squandered significantly of that assist with his active involvement in the machinations that introduced down the commonly elected Centre Union governing administration of key minister George Papandreou.
The episode, continue to greatly acknowledged in Greece as the ‘apostasy’ or defection from the ruling party of several politicians, destabilised the constitutional buy and led to a armed forces coup in 1967.
Constantine inevitably clashed with the armed service rulers and was forced into exile.
The dictatorship abolished the monarchy in 1973, whilst a referendum following democracy was restored in 1974 dashed any hopes Constantine experienced of reigning again.
Minimized in the subsequent many years to only fleeting visits to Greece, which lifted a political and media storm every single time, he was ready in his waning several years to settle once more in his residence state, when opposing his presence no extended held currency as a badge of vigilant republicanism.
With minimum nostalgia for the monarchy in Greece, Constantine grew to become a fairly uncontroversial figure from the past.
To his closing days, Constantine, while accepting Greece was now a republic, ongoing to style himself King of Greece and his youngsters as princes and princesses even even though Greece no extended recognised titles of nobility.
For most of his several years in exile, he lived in Hampstead Backyard Suburb, London, and was mentioned to be in particular near to his second cousin Charles, now King Charles III.
Whilst it took Constantine 14 many years to return to his place, briefly, to bury his mom, Queen Federica in 1981, he multiplied his visits thereafter and, from 2010, created his residence there.
There have been ongoing disputes: in 1994, the then-socialist government stripped him of his nationality and expropriated what remained of the royal family’s residence.
Constantine sued at the European Court docket of Human Legal rights and was awarded 12 million euros (£10.6 million) in 2002, a portion of the 500 million (£441.8 million) he had sought.
Constantine travelled with a Danish passport as a Danish prince.
He is survived by his spouse, the previous princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, youngest sister of Queen Margrethe II five little ones, Alexia, Pavlos, Nikolaos, Theodora and Philippos and 9 grandchildren.
