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GreekReporter.comGreek NewsFormer King Constantine to Be Buried in Greece as Private Citizen

Former King Constantine to Be Buried in Greece as Private Citizen

King Constantine Greece
Former King of Greece Constantine died on Tuesday, January 10th in Athens. Credit: AMNA

The government in Greece announced on Wednesday that former King Constantine will be buried on Monday as a private citizen at the former royal palace north of Athens.

The funeral service will take place in Athens’ Metropolis, as the government rejected calls for a funeral with the honors of a head of state as demanded by several right-wing politicians. It also rejected calls from the former royal family for the body to be placed on a popular pilgrimage.

According to the decision, the burial will take place near Constantine’s ancestors’ graves at the former royal palace in Tatoi.

The government will be represented at the funeral by the Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni and all the procedures provided by the Protocol for the officials from abroad attending the funeral will be observed.

Constantine died on Tuesday, January 10th. Staff at Athens’ private Hygeia Hospital confirmed Constantine’s death after treatment in an intensive care unit, but provided no further details pending an official announcement.

The former Greek king, who was born on June 2, 1940 and passed at the age of eighty-two, had been hospitalized several times in recent years. He relocated to Athens in 2021 to be closer to medical facilities.

Deposed by military rulers and spurned by his subjects who voted to ditch the monarchy in 1974, Constantine was the only son of King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece.

“It is with deep sadness that the royal family announces that HM King Constantine, beloved husband, father, and brother, passed away yesterday,” Constantine’s private office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Former king Constantine marked “turbulent moments” in Greece’s history

“The eventful life of former king Constantine marked and was marked by turbulent moments in the country’s modern history,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a statement on Wednesday.

“(Marked) by wounds which were healed by the choices, the free conscience and the maturity of the Greek people. Also by his discreet stance during the post-junta period,” he added.

“His passing is, on a human level, the formal epilogue to a chapter that was closed with the 1974 referendum,” he said, adding that “from now on, it is up to history to judge.”

Mitsotakis also extended his sincere condolences to the family of the former king.

 

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