Shortly before 12:00 the body will be transferred to the main church in the Athens Metropolis for the funeral service
In the final stretch, we are heading for the exodus procession and the burial of the late King Constantine, and since the morning, royals and members of the largest royal houses of Europe have been arriving at Eleftherios Venizelos airport on special flights.
There is a lot of movement at the Great Britain hotel, where most of the people, as well as Constantine’s children, have settled.
Shortly after 12:30 in the afternoon, Nicholas and Philip, the two sons of the former King Constantine, went to the Holy Church of the Metropolis.
The sons of the king, together with their associates, talked with the priests and the temple officials in order to arrange the last details for the exodus sequence.
The SKAI camera recorded the meeting.
Philip holds in his hands the plan of the guests and together with his brother they begin to count the seats of the temple, while they inform the priest about the final arrangements of the ceremony according to the protocol.
After about two and a half hours, the meeting ended and they left through the side entrance.
Shortly before 12:00 the body will be transferred to the central church, for the performance of the funeral service of the archbishop of Athens Hieronymos where it was the wish of the family and all the members of the Holy Synod, i.e. all 12 synodical Metropolitans.
In the first row will be the family of the deceased. To their left will be the current heads of state, right behind will be the former kings and the heirs to the thrones, the princes will follow, and on the right side will sit the other guests.
Security officials are at the holy metropolitan temple to arrange the final details.
Preferences peak a few hours before the ceremony.
The employees of the municipality clean the perimeter of the temple from early in the morning.
Workshops shape the space inside.
Officials of the Royal families are conducting an autopsy in the courtyard, videotaping and even timing how long it will take the motorcade from the hotels where the guests are staying to reach the holy temple.
Foreign television networks have also shown great interest, several correspondents have come to our country to cover the event.
The work from the crews in Tatoi was also feverish.
Preparations were completed late in the afternoon.
Trucks loaded with trees passed the entrance to the former royal estates.
Crews planted trees around the former king’s last residence.
Shortly before 11 am members of the Royal family arrived at the former royal estates of Tatoi in a luxury van in order to be informed about the progress of the work
In the videos secured by SKAI, crews can be seen cleaning the graves of the former’s parents as well as the Resurrection chapel.
In addition, gravel has been laid on the corridors that were opened, a parking area has been created for the coaches that will transport the guests of the family.
Even volunteers contributed to the efforts.
The Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, and the Deputy Minister of Environment, Giorgos Amyras, were in Tatoi since the morning, in order to do a final autopsy on the site, so that everything is ready for the ceremony.
Free from 06:00 am to 11:00 a.m. of Monday January 16, 2023 will be the access to the chapel of Agios Eleftherios, near the Metropolitan Church of Athens, where the body of the late King Constantine will be located, as stated in a statement by the Hellenic Police Headquarters.
Shortly before 12:00 the body will be transferred to the central church in the Metropolis of Athens for the funeral service of the archbishop of Athens Ieronymos and all the members of the Holy Synod, i.e. all 12 synodical Metropolitans.
At the request of the family, access to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens will be strictly limited to family guests who, according to the report, reach 190, as 60 are from Greece and 130 from abroad.
In fact, William and Kate are expected to come to Athens tomorrow, as individuals and not on an official visit, as the heir to the British throne was the godfather of Constantine Glyxburg.
Official invitees will arrive at a predetermined time and enter the Metropolis, strictly by name. Guests from the royal houses – acting kings and crown princes and princes – will be seated in a specific position within the church, according to protocol.
Read about: Funeral of the late King Constantine: The attendance at the Metropolis is covered – No cameras in Tatoi
Positions according to protocol
In the first row will be the family of the deceased – wife, children, Queen Mother Sofia of Spain and Princess Irene (sisters).
Behind them are the other guests.
To the left of the family will be the current heads of state, namely the royal couples of Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden, Queen Margarita of Denmark, Prince Albert and Caroline of Monaco and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.
Hierarchically, behind the current ones, there will be the former kings and the heirs to the thrones and the princes will follow.
The ritual
The funeral procession will last about an hour and at about 1 in the afternoon the former King will be buried with the same words as any human being.
The only difference is that at the time they will say his name, they will say it next to our new King, and this is for reasons of historical accuracy.
The body of Constantine Glyxburg will then depart for Tatoi, where the former King will be buried next to his ancestors.
In Tatoi the “block” of EL.AS. it will be located at a distance of two kilometers from the former royal estates, at the entrance of “Lefka” as the family wishes that there be no cameras at the burial site.
The authorities are on foot
Draconian are the security measures that have already started to be taken today for tomorrow’s funeral of the former King Constantinos.
The 1,500 policemen, anti-terrorist and EYP officials, snipers who will participate in the order measures of the Greek Police for the exodus procession and the burial of the late King Constantine are estimated at 1,500.
At the same time, drones and helicopters were deployed.
Vehicular traffic will be suspended on several streets in the center of Athens as well as along the route that the funeral procession will take to Tatoi after the funeral procession.
The traffic regulations around the metropolis of Athens will start from Sunday evening and will be completed at 2 in the afternoon on Monday
The Athens traffic sub-directorate informed the citizens in writing that from ten in the evening stopping and parking will be prohibited on Mitropoleos Street, while from 5 in the morning traffic will be stopped in Ermou, Aiolou and Mitropoleos.
Around the perimeter of the metropolis there will be dozens of uniformed policemen as well as civilian ones
During the funeral procession and the burial of the former King Constantine, five drones and two helicopters will fly over the Attic sky for security reasons
The hotels where the dignitaries will stay will also be under police surveillance, while all the luggage of those entering the hotels will be checked with x-ray machines, like the one that arrived early in the morning in Great Britain.
During the stay of the dignitaries in the Greek capital, the hotels they will stay in will be guarded 24 hours a day by uniformed policemen, but also by plainclothes policemen
After the exodus procession, the procession will start in reverse from Mitropoleos Street, it will pass through Syntagma, Vasilissis Sofias, Vasileos Kostantinou, Hilton, Michalakopoulou, Katehaki, Perifereiaki Ymitou, E.O Athens-Lamias, to exit to Varybompi.
Until the last moment, delegations of guests will arrive at Eleftherios Venizelos with the Greek Police stopping the traffic and escorting them to the hotels.
Meetings at the ministry of civil protection are ongoing and there may be changes to the order measures if the need arises.
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