The body of former Queen Anne of Romania, who died last week in a Swiss hospital at the age of 92, arrived back in her home country on Tuesday (August 9).
After a short religious ceremony held by the head of the Romanian Catholic Church, archbishop Ioan Robu and attended by members of the Royal family, the coffin was brought to the Peles castle in the mountain city of Sinaia. Former king Michael remained at the family's home in Switzerland due to his serious illness. The 94-year old won't be able to attend the funeral for his wife on Saturday (August 13).
Anne and her husband, former King Michael of Romania have been living in Aubonne, Switzerland since 2004, visiting Romania during the holidays and for official functions. They had been married for 68 years.
Earlier this year, the royal house said Michael has withdrawn from public life due to illness after undergoing surgery for leukaemia and cancer.
Michael, a cousin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth and a descendant of Germany's old Hohenzollern dynasty, was forced to abdicate in 1947 after the post-war Communist takeover of Romania. He lived in exile in the West for decades, returning to Romania in 1992.
He and Anne married in 1948 in Athens. They have five daughters. She was born in Paris and belongs to the house of Bourbon-Parma.
Anne died at the hospital surrounded by family, the royal house statement read. The funeral will take place in the central Romanian city of Curtea de Arges.
While there is no popular demand for a restoration of the European Union state's monarchy, Romanians widely respect Michael and Anne as historic figureheads especially as they have grown increasingly disillusioned with a political class perceived as corrupt.
