Royal who reigned for barely three years before being exiled is laid to rest six days after death was announced
e was a king without a crown, a monarch without a kingdom, for longer than most can remember. But for a few hours in Athens on Monday, Constantine II, the royal who reigned for barely three years before being forced into exile was king of the Hellenes again – or at least of thousands of his former subjects.
“Immortal!” they cried amid rapturous applause and renditions of the national anthem as the motorcade of vans and limousines drew up at the cathedral. “Constantine, you will never die.”In a nation where memories of his initial support for the rightwing colonels’ regime still run deep, the royal remained a deeply divisive figure.
She had travelled from the capital’s southern suburbs to take in scenes straight out of the pages of Hello!. Others had travelled from across Greece to bid farewell. Others still had travelled from the furthest corners of Europe.Photograph: Helena Smith/The Guardian Koulouri, who admitted not telling her closest relatives that she had made her way to the church “because they’d never understand”, was among the many who curtsied when, after several hours of waiting, she got to Constantine’s coffin. Others patted the casket while others embraced it and wept as they kissed the icon that adorned it.Photograph: Helena Smith/The GuardianFrom the outset, the funeral of the former king was a sensitive affair.
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