Thousands of people bid farewell to King Constantine in the controversial funeral chapel: "We Greeks have respected our dead since the Iliad"

• Royalty Athens, epicenter of monarchies for the funeral of Constantine

It was dark in Athens when the coffin with the mortal remains of King Constantine arrived at the small chapel of Saint Eleutherius, attached to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.

At that time there were already people waiting to pay tribute to the former monarch.

They had four and a half hours of an improvised funeral chapel that the Hellenic Government authorized last Friday after negotiations by

and

, two of the King's sons.

However, they have not called it an ardent chapel and have done little to organize it.

Despite the determination of the leaders not to organize a state funeral and the intention that Constantine's death should be passed off as another

many Athenians but many others who arrived from other parts of the country by bus -especially from the Peloponnese- They have paid tribute to Constantine by patiently waiting up to two and three hours in line.

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• Editor: MARINA PINAAthens

Athens, epicenter of monarchies for the funeral of Constantine

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"We Greeks pay tribute to our dead, already

Achilles stopped the war to show respect to Hector, whom he himself murdered," says

, who coincided with Constantine at the parties that the king organized at the Claridge Hotel for the Greeks residing in London.

She is resigned to the government's position: "But we are also showing ours."

Helena Alexandría,

married to the King's ENT - a fact that she demonstrates with selfies with him and Ana María in a medical consultation -, and a Spanish student at the Cervantes Institute, believes that when the republic was declared "we kicked out the King but they stayed

like the Papandreou".

, a retired Spanish teacher, thinks along the same lines

: "People are afraid to say what they really think of the monarchy," she says.

The royal family of Greece suggested to the 180 guests at the funeral that instead of sending wreaths, they

to one of the three foundations that were explained in the invitation.

However, on the facade of the cathedral there were about

of white flowers.

The first two, closest to the door, had a crimson and a blue band, respectively.

They were from the Kings Felipe and Letizia and from Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía.

While the queue advanced in silence and tranquility, the sun came out behind the back of the cathedral.

One of the dozens of Orthodox priests who were waiting their turn to see off the King shouted when he recognized the Spanish press: "Long live Queen Sofía."

He then lamented that "the government

for a man who deeply loved his land."

Along the same lines, the Athenian

, who worked in a hotel near Tatoi and treated Constantine 77 years ago, lamented that the funeral chapel "

because many people want to say goodbye and say goodbye."

At ten to ten in the morning, the former Prime Minister of Greece,

appeared in a private capacity at the funeral chapel, where he aroused the applause of the public.

"That a former president comes shows that he was a loved man and that the government does not make sense," explains one of the attendees who does not want to give his name.

Konstantinos Bogdanos, a member of parliament, also wanted to pay tribute to the king, and he arrived calling for applause and with a white rose in his hand.

The silence in which the queue was advancing was broken at half past nine in the morning, when one of the attendees began to sing

.

He was joined by all those who waited to pay tribute to the King.

At the end of the hymn, they broke into applause and cheers for the king.

Next, they recovered silence, respect, and the slow flow towards Constantine's coffin, which rested covered by the flag of Greece, the homeland in which he was born and whose nationality was withdrawn from him.

Constantine of Greece passed away on January 10 at the age of 82 from complications of a stroke.

At his side was his wife

his five children, Queen Sofía and Princess Irene.

Throughout Sunday, 15 representatives of all the royal houses -reigning and not- were arriving in Athens to participate in Constantine's farewell.

Spain is the country with the highest family representation.

The Kings Don Felipe and Doña Letizia are accompanied by the whole family: from the Emeritus to the Infantas Elena and Cristina and their respective children.

On Sunday, the Grecias organized a welcome reception at the King George hotel, in which Doña Letizia staged the forgiveness of Marie Chantal leaving hand in hand, showing unity in the farewell to the last king of the Hellenes.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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