King Felipe of Spain was captured warmly embracing his father Juan Carlos I at Constantine II’s funeral in Athens on Monday, as seen in the video below.
There has been much speculation about the father and son’s relationship over the years, particularly after the Spanish head of state renounced any future inheritance from Juan Carlos after the former monarch’s reported connections to an alleged financial scandal.
While Felipe and Juan Carlos sat on opposite sides of the room during the funeral service at the Metropolitan Cathedral, the exchange between the pair took place after the burial of the former Greek king at the Tatoi Palace.
Both King Felipe and Juan Carlos also attended the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral at Westminster Abbey in September, but no exchange was picked up between them.
Former king Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 after a number of alleged controversies and officially retired from public life in June 2019.
Monday also marked the first time the Spanish royal family were reunited together publicly in three years. Juan Carlos supported his wife, Queen Sofia, who is the sister of the late Greek King Constantine II.
Felipe’s sisters, Infanta Cristina and Infanta Elena also supported their mother, Queen Sofia, at the service.
Infanta Elena was joined by her children, Felipe and Victoria de Marichalar, while Infanta Cristina, who announced her separation from Iñaki Urdangarin last January, was accompanied by her four children – Juan Valentín, Pablo, Miguel and Irene Urdangarin.
The only Spanish royals missing from the service were King Felipe and Queen Letizia’s daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia, who are at college and school respectively.
Meanwhile, Queen Letizia is said to have put her speculated feud with Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece behind her, as the women were spotted linking arms following a family dinner, the night before Constantine’s funeral.
