The funeral took place on Monday 16^th January of ex-King Constantine of Greece, who had died the previous Tuesday following a long period of illness. The death of a figure associated with a period of modern Greek history which most Greeks would prefer to forget aroused mixed feelings among the populace and among the country’s present rulers. Since the ex-King was now a private person, there was no case for giving him a state funeral, yet he had been the country’s head of state and still commanded the loyalty and affection of many Greek citizens. Moreover he had expressed the wish to be buried alongside his father and other family members at the former royal estate of Tatoi outside Athens.

Faced with something of a dilemma, the government decided on a compromise. There would be no state funeral, but it would be held at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Athens, with the body lying in state in the adjacent chapel beforehand, and a service presided over by the Archbishop of Greece. The body would then be taken for the committal service and burial to Tatoi, where the church of the Resurrection had been kept in good condition despite the dilapidation of the rest of the estate, confiscated by the PASOK government in 1994.

Some history

Constantine was the only son of King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece. His life and short reign reflected the troubled times which the nation lived through for much of the 20^th century. The royal family had spent most of the 2nd World War in exile in Egypt and South Africa, returning home during the period of the Civil War. Paul’s father King George II died in 1947, and Constantine’s father became the new king.

The country prospered in the period following the Civil War, becoming a member of NATO in 1952, and joining the European Economic Community in 1962. However, King Paul died in 1964 at the age of only 62 and the 23-year-old Constantine acceded to the throne. Later that year he married his third cousin Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, with whom he eventually had five children.

Young, personable, an accomplished sportsman who in 1960 had gained Greece’s first gold medal since 1912, in sailing, at the Olympic Games, Constantine was initially regarded with optimism. However, he quickly became embroiled in the political machinations of the time, which led to the Coup of the Colonels in 1967, and Constantine was suspected by many of being involved in it. With no support from the army, he had little choice but to accede to the Colonels’ request to inaugurate their government, which he did reluctantly, to avoid further bloodshed. An attempt at a counter-coup in 1967 failed and he was forced into exile.

Constantine remained officially the head of state in exile until the junta abolished the monarchy on 1 June 1973. A referendum held in the same year confirmed their action, but was considered of doubtful validity, and a second referendum held after the restoration of democracy in 1974 confirmed the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Third Hellenic Republic. Accepting the result, Constantine remained in exile with his family for the next 40 years, returning only to attend the funeral of his mother Queen Frederica at the former royal palace of Tatoi in 1981, and in 2004 as a member of the International Olympic Committee.

For much of that time the family were resident in the UK, living at a house in Hampstead Garden Suburb in London. They maintained close relations with the British royal family, Constantine’s grandfather George II being a cousin of Philip Duke of Edinburgh. Constantine was said to be particularly close to King Charles (they both attended schools founded on the principles of the German educator Kurt Hahn), and was the godfather of William, the present Prince of Wales. The family returned to live permanently in Greece in 2013.

The Tatoi estate

Tatoi was the summer residence and 42 sq km estate of the former royal family. It lies on a densely wooded slope of Mt Parnitha, 27 km from the centre of Athens. Purchased by King George I of the Hellenes in 1880s with private funds brought from Denmark, it was partially confiscated during the Republican regime of the 1920s, but returned to King George II in 1936. Following the family’s exile during the 2nd World War, King George regained possession of the estate in 1946, and it passed down as private property to King Constantine II. However, in 1994 the royal estates were confiscated by the government of Andreas Papandreou.

In 2000 Constantine took the government to the European Court of Human Rights, seeking the restoration of his rights, and the Court ruled in his favour three years later. Unable to impose the return of the estates, they were however able to legally force the government to pay him €12 million in compensation, which amounted to less than 10 per cent of their real worth.

While the estate was neglected for many years, suffering vandalism and looting of the vast store of family possessions which had remained there, recent government plans had progressed to developing the site. The intention was to turn the palace into a museum while the rest of the estate would be a mixed-use site with a hotel, spa and other amenities. However, the wildfires of 2021 destroyed an area of some 42,000 acres (15,000 hectares) on Mr Parnitha. Much of the Tatoi forest was burned and the palace caught fire but was saved. Traditionally the burial place of Greek royals, the Royal Cemetery at Tatoi contains the remains of no less than 20 previous members of the royal family.

Funeral preparations

Preparations for the funeral began several days beforehand, with teams of workers clearing the remnants of trees burned in the forest fires and strewing gravel on the tracks in the Tatoi estate, to facilitate access to the burial site. Invitations were issued to some 200 attendees, among them nine European monarchs including Felipe VI of Spain, Juan Carlos I and Sofia of Spain, Margrethe of Denmark and Carl Gustaf of Sweden and also to members of the royal houses of Belgium, Jordan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands and Norway, as well as non-reigning royal houses such as Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and Serbia. The British royal family was to be represented by Princess Anne and by Lady Gabriella Windsor, daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and a god-daughter of ex-King Constantine.

The Greek government was to be represented by the Culture minister Lina Medoni and the deputy prime minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos. The Archbishop of Greece Ieronymos would preside over the funeral service, accompanied by the country’s 12 metropolitan bishops. It was agreed with the family that the ex-King’s coffin would be laid out for the public to pay their respects in the Church of Agios Eleftherios and Panagia Gorgoepikoos (the “Virgin Swift to Hear”), a small Byzantine chapel next to the main cathedral. Viewing was scheduled to take place from 6.00 to 10.30 am, with the funeral itself taking place at 12.00 noon.

The lying in state

In the event, large numbers of people had begun to queue from early in the morning of Monday 16^th January, with several thousand passing through the small chapel before access was finally closed at 11.00 am. They had come from all parts of the country – one man said he had come from Mytilene – and were of all ages, from children to the very old. Many were carrying Greek flags or the ex-King’s royal standard. Asked by SKAI TV reporters, they gave a variety of reasons for being there: some said they felt Constantine was still their king, others that they came because it was a historic moment, others that they felt he been badly treated, and others that it was a duty to honour the dead. It was the last statement which seemed most expressive of a society in which respect for the dead is such a large part of the social fabric, with funerals being followed by memorial services one week, forty days (symbolic of Christ’s rising from the dead) and one year after the event, and sometimes annually thereafter.

At 11.00 am the coffin was removed to the Cathedral and a stream of guests began to arrive. A large crowd remained in front of the church, applauding the succession of royals as they descended from their limousines. Particular warmth was reserved for the former King of Spain, Juan Carlos, and the Queen Mother Sofia, Constantine’s sister, who was greeted with loud cries of “Sofia, Sofia” as she accompanied her husband up the steps to the Cathedral. They were greeted by Constantine’s eldest son Pavlos, who along with his two brothers, Nikos and Philippos, had taken on the task of negotiating with the government and organising the funeral. The three brothers had been greeted with loud cheering and applause as they first arrived at the church.

Slowly the distinguished mourners filed into the church, where the coffin of Constantine II lay draped in the Greek flag and surrounded by wreaths, the customary icon of the Resurrection of Christ and the ex-king’s decorations and Olympic gold medal displayed in front of it. Outside, there was applause from the crowd for King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, and Prince Albert of Monaco as they arrived. The entire congregation rose to their feet when Queen Margrete II of Denmark, Europe’s oldest serving monarch, entered the church.

The funeral service

The funeral service, officiated over by Archbishop Ieronymos, was relatively short – welcome no doubt in view of the advanced age of many of the mourners – and culminated in an encomium delivered by Constantine’s eldest son Pavlos in both Greek and English.

After reviewing his father’s short reign he made reference to his lifelong commitment to education, which included his interest in the Round Square network of schools following the principles of Kurt Hahn, and the Hellenic College of London which he founded with his wife Queen Anne-Marie in 1980. He also mentioned Constantine’s Olympic achievements and his role as a member of the International Olympic Committee, which he said had led to Greece being awarded the staging of the 2004 Olympics “which was one of your greatest feats”. But chiefly he dwelt on his father’s attachment to family values and his love for his country, recalling the advice he had received from his father, King Paul:

“When at the age of 18 you became Crown Prince of Greece and received your commission as an officer in the glorious Greek Armed Forces, his advice to you, and this was very dear to you and I quote, was: ‘Devote your life to the happiness of the motherland, for it is the most noble, remarkable mission. Always remember that it is better for the king to suffer and not the people or the country. You are the guardian and protector of your church. Counter offence with forgiveness, discord with unity, mistakes through truth and doubt with true faith.’ This is the legacy that my grandfather left to you, that is now passed to myself, my brothers, your grandchildren, and we will protect it and honour it for the rest of our lives.”

The burial

Following the service, the coffin was carried down the steps of the Cathedral to the waiting hearse. It was met with applause and chants of “Constantinos, Constantinos” from the waiting crowd, and there were scattered shouts of “Athanatos” (“Immortal”) and renderings of the national anthem. The chants switched to “Pavlos, Pavlos ” as he and his mother got into the family Range Rover and followed the hearse as it headed out from the centre of Athens. A cortège developed as the closer family members got into their limousines and moved slowly through the suburbs in the direction of Tatoi.

A total of forty cars, accompanied by a strong police escort, arrived at Tatoi, where a small crowd was waiting. The family had initially decided that the burial should be a private affair, but agreed that the public should be allowed into the area around the church while keeping a respectful distance from the graveside. After a short service of committal the coffin was carried out on the shoulders of Constantine’s three sons and his grandsons, who had requested that they should act as pallbearers, and down the slope to the grave alongside those of his father and other family members.