How Queen Anne-Marie of Greece paid a moving tribute to her husband

Queen Anne-Marie of Greece paid a moving tribute to her husband, King Constantine II, when she attended his emotional funeral yesterday.

The 76-year-old widow was teary-eyed as she donned the same cross pendant she wore at her wedding to the late monarch during proceedings in Athens.

While photos from the merry nuptials in 1964 show the queen decked out in her bridal attire with the diamond amulet on a chain, yesterday she wore it on a pearl necklace.

Snapshots from 59 years ago show the beloved couple in the Greek capital, with Anne-Marie looking stunning in an elegant white gown and glittering crown while a dashing Constantine flaunted his medals for the occasion.

It comes as royals from across Europe looked emotional as they watched the late king’s coffin leave the Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral, ahead of a procession to his former summer palace of Tatoi on Monday.

Constantine died of a stroke on January 10 in the Greek capital at the age of 82, more than 50 years after being exiled in a military coup..

Princess Anne, who was the Greek king’s second cousin, looked stoic as she entered Athens Cathedral with her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, this morning.

The public funeral was followed by a 29-kilometre procession to the Tatoi Palace, from where there was a separate private ceremony with Constantine buried with other members of the Greek royal family.

Constantine’s son, Crown Prince Pavlos, bowed his head as he looked at his father’s coffin inside the church.

Soon after, the grieving son greeted Queen Letizia of Spain with a kiss at the top of the cathedral steps.

The 50-year-old Spanish monarch styled her hair in a sleek updo and opted for minimal jewelry to offset her tailored black dress.

Prince Albert of Monaco also made the trip to Greece and was photographed greeting the crowd of mourners with a wave as they entered the cathedral.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands looked visibly emotional as they arrived at the service arm in arm.

Meanwhile, former Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, who is Constantine’s sister, were among other high-profile European royals in attendance.

It comes after Greek mourners lined the streets of Athens to pay their respects to King Constantine II, who was a nephew of the Duke of Edinburgh, before funeral processions began.

The public queued all night to see the coffin of the last king of Greece in the chapel of Agios Eleftherios, next to the cathedral.

Constantine’s coffin was draped with a Greek flag as the public was invited into the chapel to say goodbye to the former monarch.

Over the weekend, royalty from across Europe, including Queen Margrethe of Denmark and King Philip and Queen Letizia of Spain, flew into the Greek capital for the funeral yesterday.

Deputy Prime Minister Pangagiotis Pikrammenos and Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni represented the Greek government at the service.

Among the other European royals in attendance were King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, as well as Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands.

There are a total of 200 guests who attended the event, including Greek shipowners and businessmen.

A second cousin to King Charles and godfather to Prince William, Constantine II lived most of his life in exile after a Greek referendum rejected the monarchy in 1974.

He was the only son of King Paul and Queen Frederick of Greece and the country’s last king.

Constantine, an Olympic gold medalist in sailing, was 27 and had been king for three years in 1967, when he was forced into exile with his wife, Princess Anne-Marie, the youngest daughter of King Frederick IX of Denmark and their family. . .

He would not return to Greece for decades, where he was deeply unpopular for his decision to swear in the colonels who seized power in April 1967. He briefly cooperated with them before staging a failed counter-coup that sent him into exile. .

The military junta abolished the monarchy in 1973. In a referendum following the fall of the junta in 1974, Greece again rejected the monarchy.

After the referendum, his relationship with Greece was testy. She was allowed to return for only a few hours in 1981 to bury her mother, Queen Frederika, at the family estate in Tatoi, some 20 kilometers north of Athens.

In the 1990s, Constantine was stripped of his Greek citizenship and the state seized Tatoi and a palace on the island of Corfu, where Britain’s Prince Philip was born.

The King had been ill in recent months, having several hospital admissions towards the end of 2022.

He is survived by his wife, the former Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, younger sister of Queen Margrethe II; five children, Alexia, Pavlos, Nikolaos, Theodora, and Philippos; and nine grandchildren.