Royalty gather to farewell King Constantine II at his funeral in Athens
By Natalie Oliveri|
Royalty from across Europe have gathered to farewell King Constantine II at his funeral in Athens.
Greece's last King died on January 10, aged 82, after suffering from heart and mobility problems.
Dozens of royals were in attendance at the service on Monday, including Princess Anne representing King Charles III of Britain.
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Prince William asked his cousin Lady Gabriella Windsor to be his representative at the funeral.
The late king was godfather to both William and Gabriella.
Denmark's Queen Margrethe II and Crown Prince Frederik were there, along with King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain.
Also present were King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Prince Albert II of Monaco, ?King Carl XVI and Queen Silvia of Sweden, Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Norway's Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri.
All arrived to applause with large ?crowds of people gathered outside the cathedral in the Greek capital.
The late King's wife, Queen Anne-Marie of Denmark was comforted by their eldest son Prince Pavlos and his wife Marie-Chantal.
Constantine was married to Queen Anne-Marie, the sister of Denmark's Queen Margrethe.?
In a touching nod to her late husband, Anne-Marie wore the same large diamond cross that she first wore on their wedding day in 1964.
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The couple had five children: Prince Pavlos, Princess Alexia, Prince Nikolaos, Princess Theodora and Prince Philippos.
King Constantine's sister, the former Queen Sofia of Spain, was among the mourners.
More than 200 people attended the private funeral officiated by Archbishop Ieronymos, head of the Orthodox church of Greece.
Constantine came to the throne in 1964 and reigned for just three years but was ousted in a military coup three years later.
He was soon forced to flee abroad following an unsuccessful counter-coup.
The monarchy was abolished in 1974, and the former King was later stripped of his Greek citizenship.
Constantine lived in exile for in Rome with the rest of his family before they later settled in London.?
Constantine was stripped of his Greek citizenship in 1994 but returned to his homeland in 2013 after selling his London home where their family had lived for 40 years.
He was denied a state funeral and was buried as a private citizen, close to his ancestors in the grounds of the family's former summer palace at Tatoi.
King Constantine and his family spent most of their time in the UK and forged a close relationship with the British royal family.
The late Prince Philip was Constantine's uncle.
At a 60th birthday party held for Constantine II at Highgrove, Prince Charles first introduced then Camilla Parker Bowles to his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The late King had a passion for sailing and in 1960 won Greece its first Olympic gold medal since before the First World War.?
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