Prince Charles and fellow European royals joined tens of thousands of Romanians to pay their respects to the country’s late King Michael I as a state funeral got underway on Saturday.
Michael, who ruled Romania twice before being forced to abdicate by the communists in 1947, died aged 96 in Switzerland this month.
Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and Spain’s former King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, were among those at a pre-funeral service at the Royal Palace in Bucharest where Michael’s body had been laying in state for the past two days.
The funeral is of special significance to Prince Charles, whose father Prince Philip is King Michael’s first cousin.
Pictured (L-R): Greece’s Queen Anne-Marie, Prince Charles, former Spanish Queen Sofia and former Spanish King Juan Carlos and Princess Margaret of Hohenzollern, daughter of former Romanian King Michael
Among non-European royals attending the funeral was Princess Muna al-Hussein, mother of King Abdullah II of Jordan.
In the hours before Michael’s coffin was taken out of the palace, Romanians gathered silently, many in tears, in Revolution Square. Church bells tolled around the country and a choir of priests sang as the coffin was taken out and laid on a dais in the square.
The crowd cheered and shouted ‘King Michael!’ as the coffin, led by Orthodox priests and a guard of honour, was transported by an army jeep towards the cathedral where the funeral was taking place.
Michael’s five daughters and his estranged grandson, Nicholas Medforth-Mills, who was stripped of his title for allegedly fathering a child out of wedlock, walked behind the coffin.
Mourner Georgeta Anastasiu, 60, said the late king had been ‘demonised by the communists, but in the end we found out the truth about him’.
She called the king ‘the last moral example for Romanians’, and said many people had finally learned the truth about him since his death on December 5.
Soldiers carry the coffin of late Romanian King Michael during a funeral ceremony in Bucharest
Last goodbye: Princess Margaret of Hohenzollern, daughter of former Romanian King Michael, touches his coffin, at the former royal palace
Honor guard soldiers carry the coffin of the late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony outside the former royal palace
Prince Charles, Former Spanish Queen Sofia and former Spanish King Juan Carlos attend a funeral ceremony for late Romanian King Michael in Bucharest
Honor guard soldiers carry the coffin of the late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony outside the former royal palace in Bucharest
Prince Charles of Britain, left, former Spanish royals, Queen Sofia, center, and King Juan Carlos I
Greece’s Queen Anne-Marie and Britain’s Prince Charles engage in conversation as they attend the funeral ceremony
After the funeral service, his body will be taken by royal train to the central Romanian city of Curtea de Arges, where he will be buried next to his wife, Anne de Bourbon-Parme, who died last year.
For many, it’s a sad reminder of the train the communists made Michael and his mother Queen Helen take from Bucharest to Switzerland after he was forced to abdicate in December 1947 and began his exile 70 years ago.
It’s not clear exactly how much Michael and the royal house owns, but they do have castles and real estate.
While Romania has been a republic for 70 years, the monarchy still holds some allure for Romanians, and Michael was seen as a symbol of morality and modesty.
Belgium’s Princess Astrid and her husband, Prince Lorenz, Greece’s Queen Anne Marie, Britain’s Prince Charles, Former Spanish Queen Sofia and former Spanish King Juan Carlos, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden (unseen) and his wife, Sweden’s Queen Silvia and Henri, Duke of Luxembourg, (unseen), Crown Princess Margareta of Romania and her husband, Radu Duda at the funeral ceremony
Britain’s Prince Charles arrives for the start of the funeral ceremony
Belgium’s Princess Astrid and her husband, Prince Lorenz hold hands at the funeral ceremony in Bucharest
Britain’s Prince Charles (C) looks on as orthodox priests lead the funeral ceremony of the late King Michael I of Romania, held in front of former Royal Palace
The royal crown is placed on the coffin of late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony outside the former royal palace in Bucharest
King Juan Carlos I of Spain (R) and Queen Sofia of Spain (L) look on the cortege during the funeral ceremony of the late King Michael I of Romania
Queen Silvia of Sweden (L) and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (R) during the funeral ceremony
Former Spanish royals, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia, arrive to pay their respects to the late Romanian King Michael
Honor guard soldiers carry the coffin of the late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony
Honor guard soldiers carry the coffin of the late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony
Honor guard soldiers perform a changing of the guard by the coffin of late Romanian King Michael
People wait outside the former royal palace to attend Romanian King Michael’s funeral ceremony in Bucharest
A steward checks on a man who kneeled by the coffin of late Romanian King Michael, at the former royal palace
A Romanian boy wearing the royal flag over his shoulders prior to the start of the funeral ceremony of late King Michael I of Romania