Prince Charles among thousands paying respects to Romania’s King Michael
Prince Charles has joined members of royalty from across the world to pay his respects at the funeral for Romania’s King Michael.
Tens of thousands of people came out to give tribute at a full state funeral for the late monarch.
Michael held the Romanian throne for two separate periods, and helped lead a coup against the country’s military leadership in 1944 that resulted in the country switching side from the Nazis to the Allies.
Forced to abdicate by the new Communist regime in 1947, he moved abroad and lived for most of the rest of his life in Switzerland.
He was given a full state funeral in Bucharest after his death at age 96.
Prince Charles was among a host of European and world royalty who attended a memorial service.
The Prince joined the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and Spain’s former King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at a pre-funeral service at the Royal Palace.
Other royals including Henri, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium also joined the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis for the service.
The Swedish king saluted as King Michael’s coffin was placed on a dais.
Tens of thousands of ordinary Romanians also came out to pay their respects to the former king.
Crowds cheered and shouted “King Michael!” as the coffin, led by Orthodox priests and a guard of honor, was transported by an army jeep toward the cathedral.
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.
The service was led head of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Daniel.
Michael will be taken by a 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.
Source: ITV NEWS
Tags: Prince Charles, Funeral, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz of Belgium, King Michael, Anne de Bourbon-Parme
