To chants of “long live the king” and “Constantine, Constantine” from a crowd of thousands, the casket carrying the former and last monarch of Greece emerged from Athens' metropolitan cathedral Monday after a funeral service attended by royalty from across Europe.
Constantine's wife Anne-Marie, the sister of Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, and his eldest son Pavlos, followed at the head of the funeral procession.
The casket, draped with the Greek flag, was loaded into a hearse for the trip to Tatoi, the former royal estate north of Athens where Constantine will be buried near his parents and ancestors.
Once a richly forested site popular with Athenians for picnics and nature walks, Tatoi was ravaged by a wildfire about two years ago and had been mostly blackened and derelict ever since.
Cleanup crews worked feverishly since Constantine's death last week at the age of 82 to clean up the site in time for Monday's funeral.