thousands of people are coming from the early morning hours to the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral to give farewell to the last King of Greece II. Constantine, He is the brother of Queen Sofia, who died last Tuesday at the age of 82.
Despite the government’s decision to hold the funeral as a private ceremony – the monarchy in Greece was abolished in 1974 – and therefore no funeral chapel was envisaged, it was finally fulfilled the desire of the family to give the population the opportunity to approach the coffin for a few hours.
Although only Panayotis Pikramenos, deputy prime minister of the Greek Government, and Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture, will officially attend the funeral, numerous politicians from the conservative New Democracy party have assured that they will attend the ceremony, or at least until the funeral chapel. , as former prime minister Andonis Samaras.
According to the police, About 5,000 people have come to the cathedral so far.citizens not only living in the capital, but arriving by bus from different parts of the country.
Mortal remains of Constantine II Exposed from six in the morning (4.00 GMT) in the small chapel of Ayios Eleftheriosnext to the cathedral.
At half past ten (8:30) they will be transferred to the interior of the temple, where at noon (10:00 GMT) the burial will be held, which will be presided over by the Archbishop of Athens and the archbishop of the Orthodox Church. Jerome II in Greece before being transferred to the former royal estates of the Tatoi, where Constantine would be buried with his parents Paul I and Frederick of Hanover.
Some citizens who had queued for more than an hour since before dawn to kiss the coffin and pay their respects, along with the burial of their former ruler, The Greek royal flag and the occasional “long live the king” or “immortal” voices could be heard.
Spiridula Koi is an ardent follower of Constantine II and told EFE to love not only Constantine, but also “our” Queen Sofia, and be sure that the monarchy would be restored if it were up to her.
Words similar to those of Yerásimos Siyiotis, “the whole world wanted the king of all greece‘ and that despite the abolition of the monarchy in a referendum in 1974 at the very end of the dictatorship, it is ‘an issue that has not yet been settled’.
Siyotis vehemently claims “Where there are kings there is peace”and therefore proudly displays a photographic card, which, as he admits, was issued in 1976, when he was only 13 years old, confirming that the so-called “Royal League” is a member of this promonarchical association.
On the ID card you can see the royal emblem and a motto below it that reads “The fight continues”.
At the funeral of the former monarch About 200 people are expected to attend.about 130 will come from abroad, including several monarchs.
King of Spain, nephew of the deceased VI. Alongside Felipe and Queen Letizia, she will be accompanied by Queen Sofia, along with her sister Irene and Constantine’s children, during her final days in Athens.
VI, coming directly from Abu Dhabi, for the first time since last September. Babies Elena and Cristina are also in Athens.
In addition to Constantine’s five children and their families, the immediate family will include Queen Margrethe of Denmark, sister of Constantine’s wife Anne-Marie of Denmark, Crown Prince Frederick and Prince Joachim, and older sister Princess Benedicta. ruler.
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia will join the Swedish Royal House, as well as the kings of the Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, the kings of Belgium and the heads of state of Monaco, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. From outside Europe come Princess Noor of Jordan and Princess Raiyah.