Greece’s King Constantine II, who died on Tuesday aged 82, will not be granted a state funeral, the government said Wednesday. Denied state honors and courtesies by the Government, the funeral will be held Monday January 16th at the Cathedral in Athens, and the King will be interred at the former royal family’s burial ground at Tatoi, northwest of Athens, where his ancestors also rest. All expenses will be paid by the family. The government will be represented at the funeral by Culture Minister Lina Mendoni.
Despite the Greek government’s insistence that this is not a state occasion, there will be more heads of state and members of reigning and non-regnant royal houses in Athens for the funeral than have been seen in Athens in decades. The Greek government will not be able to ignore the presence of many Kings and Queens who will be arriving over this weekend.
The Italian newspaper Il Giornale has confirmed the presence of the following: the Queen of Denmark Margrethe II will be accompanied by Crown Prince Frederick. The Danish Royal House is the senior branch of the house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sondersburg-Glucksburg, of which the Greek Royal House is a cadet branch.
The Spanish royal family will be represented in full, with King Felipe IV, his father the King Emeritus Juan Carlos and his mother (the late King’s sister) Queen Sofia of Spain.
King Harald of Norway will be represented by Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette Marit.
Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg will attend, as will King Carl and Queen Silvia of Sweden.
King Charles of Great Britain (a close friend of the late king) will be sending the Prince and Princess of Wales,
King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands will attend with former Queen Beatrix.
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia will attend, alongside heads of other non-regnant Sovereign Houses, her cousin Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia will be attending, as well as Prince Radu of Romania, who will represent his wife, HM Margarita, Custodian of the Romanian Crown.
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Thanks to The House of Romanoff on insta for pictures!
