On February 27, a service of thanksgiving for the life of King Constantine II of Greece was held at St George’s Chapel in Windsor. Queen Camilla, King Felipe, Queen Letizia, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, Princess Beatrice, Princess Benedikte, Queen Sofia, Infanta Elena, Infanta Cristina, Queen Anne-Marie, Crown Prince Pavlos, Princess Marie-Chantal and other members of the Greek royal family attended this special memorial service for King Constantine.
King Constantine, who was the last King of Greece, passed away at the age of 82 in January last year. He and his family are closely linked to the British royal family, since he was a nephew of the late Prince Philip. He was also a close friend of his second cousin King Charles.
King Charles chose King Constantine as a godfather for his son William. The late King Constantine was also godfather to Prince and Princess of Michael of Kent’s daughter Lady Gabriella Kingston.
On dirait Théodora de Grèce et son fiancé, tout droit sortis des années 40
ReplyDeleteSpanish king's sister; the lady in pyjama like trousers looks disrespectful!
DeleteIt's been some time since we've seen a large royal gathering like this one, and nice to see so many who don't often appear in public.
ReplyDeleteEveryone looks smartly and appropriately attired for the occasion, with positive standouts for me being Marie-Chantal and Sarah Ferguson who both look good, as well as Camilla who ace's wearing hats like that, and Queen Anne-Marie and her lovely coat.
I thought there may have been some representation from the Danish royal family but it seems there was none.
- Anon 9:13
On another site, I see now that Princess Benedikte and her son were also in attendance. She looks as smart as always.
Delete- Anon 9:13
I saw a photo elsewhere of Princess Benedikte attending the service. She must have been representing the Danish branch.
DeleteYes it appears that Princess Benedikte is representing the Danish Royal house.
DeleteIn one of the photos we can see Princess Benedikte’s son Prince Gustav with his wife and one of her daughters, the Princess Alexandra with her husband.
Sarah Ferguson’s outfit is nice but for the fact that it looks too tight on her.
Delete-Royal Watcher
Only in denmark prince Pavlos is crown prince. In all other parts of the world a prince without a kingdom..
ReplyDeleteQueen Camilla looks marvellous. Does anyone know why the memorial was held in Windsor ( and not in the Greek Orthodox Church as per his funeral)? - AnneLise
ReplyDeleteI saw someone say elsewhere that there will be a Greek Orthodox service as well, but I have not confirmed that.
DeleteGood question.
DeleteDepending on how far you want to go back, he was a descendant of the Hanover/Brunswick line. I remember the political changes in Greece, I was in grade school becoming aware of the world.
DeleteChristine
Just watched Royal Daily News on YouTube, and there were high-level Greek Orthodox clergy involved in this service, as well as Anglican clergy.
DeleteThe Duchess of Gloucester should have worn other shoes. This pair of booties are not very elegant. Nice hat and coat.
ReplyDeleteQueen Camilla's hat make me think at the hat of a musketeer. I do not like the tradition of wearing 2 identical brooches. Only see that among the British royals.
Zara Tindall is wearing a lovely coat. The blue color is beautiful.
How come the Prince of Wales is not present ? Didn't he had to represent his father ? If I remember correctly there was nobody of the British royals at the funeral of King Constantine in Greece either.
On picture N° 7 one of the 2 Infantas forgot to change the trousers of her pajama (Don't know if it is Elena or Cristina ?), but she is forgiven because she is wearing a brace on her left foot.
The Prince of Wales had to cancel at the last minute due to a personal conflict. The news couldn't say why, except that it is unrelated to the death of Thomas Kingston, Lady Gabriella's husband, and that the Princess of Wales is recovering well. There were many other royal family members present, though, including the Queen.
DeleteIf princess Anne’s beautiful boots are Allright the ankleboots of the Duchess of Gloucester certainly can be worn on this occasion !!
DeleteThe Prince of Wales had to miss the event at the last minute due to a 'personal matter'. No additional details were given.
Delete- Anon 9:13
Does anyone else think that Infanta Elena is now bearing a striking resemblance to her aunt, Princess Irene?
DeleteI agree that the Duchess of Gloucester’s boots do not look the best with her otherwise elegant outfit. The laces make them look more like hiking boots to me.
Delete-Royal Watcher
Princess Ann and her husband represented the Royal Fanny at King Constantin’s funereal as well as lady Gabriella represented the Prince of Wales.
DeleteI think Penny countess Mountbatten of Birma always dresses very elegant !!
ReplyDeleteThat was my impression, too. She looks very elegant and correctly dressed. I think, infanta Elena's trousers were awful and not appropriate for a memorial service.
Deleteover dressed, as if a wedding
DeleteInfanta Elena on left. Infanta Cristina in centre escorted by one of her sons ( in green socks !!)
ReplyDeleteCountess Mountbatten looks beautifully groomed, the placement of her brooch, perfect. The Duchess of Gloucester looks lovely, but not the booties, a nice pair of shoes, would have looked better overall.
ReplyDeleteZara Tindall and Countess Mountbatten are the most elegant in my view. Great to see the Greek Royals together although the occasion is a sad one. Also sad to see Princess Alexandra needing a wheelchair.
ReplyDeleteFor any other fans of the "minor" royals, this is a great article with a chart showing everyone who attended
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13131079/royal-guests-pews-st-george-chapel-king-constantine-greece-memorial-service.html
Thanks AnnieM for the link. Interesting.
DeleteA good reference to keep for information on the British and Greek royal families.
''Infanta Elena is now bearing a striking resemblance to her aunt, Princess Irene'' not a good look, she does not seem to care how she looks or dress, those trousers are ridiculous!
DeleteI do not like the Duchess of Gloucester's booties, they ruin the look. Sarah Ferguson's jacket is too tight. mjt
ReplyDeleteThanks to Helen for the superb line up of photos.
ReplyDeleteWhat great turnout. Very nice outfits. I do like Sara's outfit but a bit to clingy, I would say. But Sara's makeup was really good today. What a pound of warpaint can do for some people? Beatrice looked very nice. Camillas and Anna Maria's outfit looked very good, not a fan of Camillas hat. Sadly, William was not there. The Memorial was overshadowed, by the news of Mr Kingston's death. css
ReplyDeleteJust one correction: his late Majesty Constantine II was not the late Prince Philip’s nephew. They were cousins: George I, King of the Hellenes, was Prince Philip’s grandfather and King Constantine II’s great-grandfather.
ReplyDeleteI like the lady in picture 10 ;her suit, bag and hat,very appropriate.Camilla looks good;lips need to be a bit redder when you are wearing a dark colour.I like the dark blue's rather than the black even for the men.Good smattering of European royals.What happened to Frederick or Mary.Good to see Andrew;people get less attention than he has for far more severe crimes (Tara)
ReplyDeleteSome of the ladies wore hats and some didn't ??
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the country, in some places It is not culture or tradition.
DeleteKudos to the ones who didn’t!
Deleteits mainly the Spanish not wearing hats. but on all previous British Royal events they have worn hats so maybe they belittled the event.
Deletem
If we look at the photos, we see Princess Irene not wearing a hat. We see Marie-Chantal and her daughter also without hats so not only the Spanish, so obviously hats are not demanded.
DeleteI'm quite surprised to see more navy outfits than black ones ti attend to a funeral. Is there a rule an 'etiquette' that someone can explain to me?
ReplyDeleteI think the Greek tradition, as the Greek flag.
DeleteSince this was a 1 year memorial service and not a funeral (the funeral was one year ago last year), perhaps black suits are not mandatory but any dark colour is acceptable. One year after the death is often the time when families come out of mourning and begin to wear lighter coloured clothes.
Delete- Anon 9:13
As it is a memorial service, black would not be expected. You might remember that at Prince Philip's memorial service, the senior royals including Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth, wore a dark green, known as 'Edinburgh green' in his honour
DeleteAll these theories of wearing hats and wearing black for funerals and or memorials are coming from another era. These days as long as you are not appearing in red, yellow, pink, grass green, etc... and wearing a dark or muted color you are welcome at a church or a cathedral. Participants who wish to wear black and a hat can still do it, but there is no obligation any more. Of course in royal families and among aristocrats a hat and black clothes are still worn by the majority.
DeletePrincess Benedicte is the most elegant to me, that moss-green coat and hat are wonderful!
ReplyDeleteBTW, it is Elena wearing the trousers, but as far as I know she does not have anything to hide (It was Christina who was involved in the scandal with money).
Gunnel
She is hiding her foot orthotic!
DeleteToutes ces photos sont superbes ; ce rassemblement nous montre des royaux pas souvent ou rarement vus en public ; j’ai eu un moment d’hésitation pour reconnaître la princesse Benedikte toujours vêtue avec goût !
ReplyDeleteQueen Anne-Marie has held up a brave front with grace and dignity during this extended period of mourning.
ReplyDeleteThe King was her partner in life for over 60 years.
No doubt she has been helped by her children and grandchildren.
Since January of 2023 she has been a widow along with her two sisters, Queen Margrethe and Princess Benedikte.
May she find strength from her family and close ones to adjust to her life as a dowager Queen.
Nice seeing Princess Benedikte there in support of her sister.
ReplyDeleteT
Who is the woman on the right in photo number 11? I love the look chosen and it looks fantastically good. She is also very pretty and has a lot of style.
ReplyDeleteIt is Lady Alexandra Hooper, neé Knatchbull, the daughter of Countess Mountbatten on the left of the photo. her husband Thomas is between them. King Charles, then Prince of Wales, gave her away at her 2016 wedding.
DeleteA private occasion, it is nice to see they still adhere to royal protocol with the lowest ranking royal in the front, the highest ranking royal near or at the end of the group. Suza
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