As Queen Anne-Marie of Greece was greeted by her son Crown Prince Pavlos at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens on 16 January, a crowd of 1000’s cheered from behind the limitations outdoors. She turned – forehead furrowed, holding again tears, vastly moved – put a hand on her coronary heart and thanked them, earlier than persevering with inside to attend her husband’s funeral. Constantine II, the final king of the Hellenes, had died six days earlier, aged 82, after a stroke.
I used to be dwell on air inside a tv studio, commenting on the funeral, however inside the cathedral was a scene of Byzantine splendour. There was incense and candles and chanting; queens, kings and statesmen. Marie-Chantal (the childrenswear entrepreneur and spouse of Pavlos) and their daughter, Princess Olympia (the London-based mannequin and socialite), had been there, alongside 10 European royal households, amongst them seven heads of state. It was the second best assemblage of topped heads after the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
In all his finery, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens officiated, accompanied by 12 metropolitans of the Holy Synod and envoys from the patriarchies of Constantinople and Alexandria. Together, they sang He Who Became King – fairly taboo in up to date Greek society, as Constantine had actually solely dominated over us for three years earlier than being finally deposed. And then Pavlos delivered his eulogy and the world’s media went wild. ‘My father,’ he stated, ‘this is not the end.’
Suddenly, the presenter interrupted our broadcast: he had acquired an pressing textual content message. ‘I have some exclusive news,’ he stated, dwell. ‘Pavlos is returning to Greece to settle permanently in Athens.’ He turned to me. ‘I am not so sure,’ I replied, reluctantly. ‘He works at Ortelius Capital Partners in New York, his wife has a children’s clothes firm. One of their 5 youngsters continues to be attending faculty. It appears to me that it could be exhausting, virtually, for them to maneuver.’
