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Greece

Queen Anne-Marie wears the same pendant she wore on her wedding day as she says goodbye to her husband of 58 years

Queen Anne-Marie led mourners at the funeral of her husband, King Constantine of Greece, on Monday in Athens.

Constantine married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark on 18th September 1964 at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.

In a touching tribute to her late husband, Queen Anne-Marie wore the very same diamond cross pendant to the funeral that she wore on her wedding day over 58 years ago.

Constantine, the former King of Greece, died last week at the age of 82.

He had been suffering with ill health for a number of years.

He succeeded his father to the throne in 1964 aged just 23-years-old – the same year he married Anne-Marie.

The same year Constantine became King, he married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, the sister of the reigning Queen Margrethe of Denmark. Together they had five children: Princess Alexia, Crown Prince Pavlos, Prince Nikolaos, Princess Theodora and Prince Philippos.

In June 1973, dictator Geórgios Papadopoulos condemned the King as an enemy of the Greek people. In May, the same year, officers of the majority royalist navy staged a military coup, although Constantine himself was not involved.

Papadopoulos retaliated by declaring Greece a republic after fighting back the royalists. A referendum was held to remove the monarchy. The vote was widely acknowledged to be rigged.

Constantine remained in exile for almost forty years. He did not return until February 1981 when the government only allowed him to go back to attend the funeral of his mother, Queen Frederica, in the family cemetery of the former Royal Palace at Tatoi.

At his own funeral in Athens, thousands of mourners lined the streets to say goodbye to their former sovereign.

Amongst the international representatives were The Princess Royal, the King & Queen of Spain, Queen Margrethe of Denmark and the King & Queen of the Netherlands.

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