King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain arrived in Athens for the funeral of King Constantine II of Greece. The King passed away at the age of 82 earlier this week on January 10th. Felipe’s mother Queen Sofia is the sister of the late King and the Spanish Royal family has always been very close to their Greek relative.
Queen Sofia arrived in Greece earlier this week when the late King was admitted to the Hospital. Her husband King Juan Carlos is arriving from Abu Dhabi to join her. Their two daughters Infanta Christina and Infanta Elena will also be attending the funeral on Monday which will be held at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.
King Constantine was born on June 02nd 1940 and acceded as King in 1964 following the death of his father, King Paul. But his reign was very short-lived – 3 years only before he was exiled with his wife and five children in 1967. Greece became a Republic in 1974 and the late King ended up living in Britain for almost 4 decades. The family returned to Greece in 2013.
The King was William, The Prince of Wales’s godfather. Here both Prince and his wife, Catherine, with the King at the 2012 sovereign’s luncheon at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/F9DS8IgNHS
— RegalFille (@RegalFille) January 10, 2023
The late Prince Philip, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, was the first cousin of King Constantine. The King was the godfather of Prince William, The current Prince of Wales. There are speculations that both the Prince and Princess of Wales might attend the funeral in a private capacity while Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy will be representing King Charles III. Although the Greek government refused to give the late King a state funeral, the presence of foreign Kings, Queens and Royals have already been confirmed.
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In the evening, the Greek Royal Family host a Dinner for visiting Royal Guests and Relatives at the Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens. What surprised everyone after the dinner was Queen Letizia and Princess Marie-Chantel walking hand in hand. Both ladies have had a turbulent relationship in the past, to put it mildly.
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For the evening, Queen Letizia was wearing her black Carolina Herrera belted A-line coat.
Letizia was wearing a black dress and black boots. She was carrying her Carolina Herrera Victoria insignia bag.
Queen Letizia brought back her Yanes flower diamond and white gold earrings that she first wore in 2008 at the Princess of Asturias awards.