Date | 16 December 2017 |
---|---|
Time | 10:25–18:40 EET (UTC+02:00) |
Duration | 384 minutes |
Venue | Funeral Ceremony Royal Palace of Bucharest (religious service) Royal Palace Square (military and religious service) Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral (Funeral Mass) Curtea de Argeș Cathedral (Burial Service) Mausoleum of the Royal Family (resting place) |
Type | State funeral |
Participants | See list of state funeral dignitaries |
Lying in state | Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Lausanne (11 December – 12 December) Peles Castle (13 December) Royal Palace of Bucharest (13 December – 16 December) |
On 5 December 2017, Michael I of Romania, former head of the House of Romania and former King of Romania from 1927 to 1930 and 1940 to 1947, died at his private residence in Switzerland at the age of 96, in the presence of his youngest daughter Princess Maria.[1][2][3]
On Wednesday, 13 December 2017, at 11:00 am, King Michael I's coffin, draped by his Royal Standard, was brought back to Romania, arriving at the Otopeni Airport in Bucharest from Lausanne, via Payerne Air Base, escorted by his second daughter, Princess Elena with her husband Alexander Nixon, fourth daughter Princess Sophie and also members of the Royal Household, were transported by the Romanian Air Force's Alenia C-27J Spartan Military Plane, which was flanked by four Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Military Combat Jets.[4][5]
The coffin was first taken to Peleș Castle at Sinaia in the Carpathian Mountains. Then, it was brought to Bucharest, where it was laid and displayed at the Royal Palace for two days. King Michael I was buried on 16 December with full state honours in the Mausoleum of the Royal Family, on the grounds of the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral together his wife Queen Anne who died in 2016.[6]
The funeral ceremony was led by Patriarch Daniel of Romania.[7] Queen Anne-Marie, her son Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark and sister-in-law, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark;,[8] Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium.[9][10] Also, important Romanian politicians, such as Klaus Iohannis, Liviu Dragnea, Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, Mihai Tudose, Gabriela Firea, Victor Ponta, Ion Iliescu, Ludovic Orban, Dacian Cioloș, Adrian Năstase, Vasile Dîncu or Victor Ciorbea, participated in the funeral or expressed their condolences.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] A delegation of Moldovan politicians, led by Andrian Candu, also attended the funeral.[20] Candu also proposed for 16 December to be declared national mourning day in Moldova, but President Igor Dodon refused, arguing that "King Michael led another state", but expressed his condolences.[21]
His body was transferred from Bucharest to Curtea de Argeș with the help of a funeral train, the Royal Train, and a repainted domestic-traffic carriage, being led by a diesel locomotive. His funeral is stated to have been one of the largest in Romania, with almost a million Romanians flocking to the capital to pay their respects and watch the funeral, with it being comparable to the one of Corneliu Coposu in 1995.
Days of 14, 15 and 16 December were declared as national mourning days.[22]
A copy of the Steel Crown of Romania was placed on the coffin of the late king during the funeral.[23]