Photo: GTres / SplashNews.com
Queen Letiziaof Spain is supporting Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece following the death ofKing Constantine II.
Queen Letizia, 50, and Princess Marie-Chantal, 54, were pictured leaving a restaurant in Athens together on Sunday, the eve of the funeral for the late King, who is Marie-Chantal’s father-in-law. The royals chatted closely as they walked and talked. Letizia was pictured placing her hand on Marie-Chantal’s arm.
Letizia and Marie-Chantalmade headlines in 2018following an awkward family exchange. Video footagewent viral onlineof Letizia blocking photographers from taking pictures of her daughters Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia with their grandmother Queen Sofia after mass on Easter Sunday.
Queen Sofia, 84, was seen putting her arms around Princess Leonor, now 17, and Princess Sofia, now 15, and smiling for the cameras at Palma Cathedral in Mallorca, Spain. Letizia then walked in front of the trio, blocking the photographers' view. Leonor attempted to shrug off her grandmother’s arm as Letizia moved closer to her mother-in-law, and the two seem to share a heated exchange. At the end of the video,King Felipe, Letizia’s husband and Sofia’s son, approached the two women in what seemed to be an attempt to defuse the situation.
DIMITRIS KAPANTAIS/SOOC/AFP/Getty
The tense clips caused a stir on social media, with several remarking on how awkward the entire exchange appeared. Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, whose husband Crown Prince Pavlos is Queen Sofia’s nephew,chimed in at the timeto defend Sofia — and threw a little shade at the situation.
“No grandmother deserves that type of treatment!” she wrote on Twitter in response to the video. “Wow she’s shown her true colors.”
Milos Bicanski/Getty
Fast forward to the present, and any tensions appear to be a thing of the past. Queen Letizia, King Felipe, Queen Sofia, and the former King Juan Carlos of Spain, Sofia’s husband and Felipe’s father, all respectfully attended Constantine’s funeral on Monday. The somber service was especially emotional for Sofia, as she and Constantine are brother and sister.
King Constantine died at age 82 on Jan. 10. He had reportedly suffered from chronic heart and mobility problems and died of a stroke after being hospitalized for breathing problems, according toThe Guardian.
Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty
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Constantine became King in 1964 at age 23 following the death of his father King Paul and married then-Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark months later. He acceded amid a changing political landscape, and the Greek monarchy was abolished in 1973. Constantine continued to use royal titles for himself and his family members, however, and lived most of his years in exile in London.
source: people.com
