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Thousands of people come to say goodbye to Constantine of Greece

Athens, Jan 16 (EFE).- Thousands of people come to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens from the early hours of the morning to bid farewell to the last king of Greece, Constantine II, brother of Queen Sofia, who died last Tuesday at 82 years old. Despite the fact that the Government decided that the funeral should be held as a private act – the monarchy in Greece was abolished in 1974 – and therefore no funeral chapel was foreseen, it finally fulfilled the family wish of giving the population the opportunity to get closer to the coffin for a couple of hours. Although only the Greek Government’s deputy prime minister, Panayotis Pikramenos, and the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, will officially attend the funeral, several politicians from the conservative New Democracy party have assured that they will attend the ceremony or at least until the funeral chapel, as the former prime minister, Andonis Samaras. According to the Police, some 5,000 people have come to the cathedral so far, not only citizens who live in the capital, but have also arrived by bus from different parts of the country. The mortal remains of Constantine II are exposed from six in the morning (04:00 GMT) in the small chapel of Ayios Eleftherios, next to the cathedral. At half past ten (08:30) they will be transferred to the interior of the temple, where at noon (10:00 GMT) the funeral will be held, which will be officiated by the Archbishop of Athens and primate of the Orthodox Church in Greece, Jerome II, before being transferred to the former royal estates of Tatoi, where Constantine will be buried alongside his parents, Paul I and Frederick of Hannover. Some of the citizens who had been queuing for more than an hour since before dawn to pay homage and kiss the coffin with the mortal remains of their former monarch, carried the royal Greek flag and from time to time you could hear a “long live the king” or “immortal.” Spiridula Koi is one of the fervent followers of Constantine II and in statements to EFE she said she loved not only Constantine but also “our” Queen Sofía, and assured that if it were up to her, the monarchy would be restored. Words similar to those of Yerásimos Siyiotis, who assured that “everyone, all of Greece loved the king” and that it is “an issue that has not yet been closed”, despite the fact that in 1974, right at the end of the dictatorship, a referendum abolished the monarchy. Siyiotis tenaciously maintains that “where there are kings, there is peace”, and for this reason he proudly displays a photo card from the so-called “Royal Union” that certifies him as a member of this promonarchical association, issued in 1976, when he was only 13 years as he confesses. On the identification card you can see the royal emblem and below a slogan that says: “the fight continues”. Nearly 200 people are expected to attend the ex-monarch’s funeral, of which some 130 will arrive from abroad, including several monarchs. In addition to the King of Spain, Felipe VI, the deceased’s nephew, and Queen Letizia, there will be Queen Sofía, who together with her sister Irene and Constantine’s children accompanied her in her last days in Athens. King Emeritus Juan Carlos will also attend, arriving directly from Abu Dhabi and who will have his first appearance in public together with Felipe VI since last September. The infantas Elena and Cristina are also in Athens. Among the close family will be, in addition to Constantine’s five children and their respective families, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, sister of Constantine’s wife Anne-Marie of Denmark, as well as Crown Prince Frederick and Prince Joachim, and Princess Benedicta, older sister of the monarch. Kings Carl XVI Gustaf and Silvia will attend the Swedish Royal House, there will also be the kings of the Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, those of Belgium, as well as the heads of state of Monaco, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. From outside Europe, Princess Noor and Princess Raiyah of Jordan come. Ingrid Haack (c) EFE Agency

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