Christian saints

Today, May 24, Bulgarians celebrate the Day of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, of the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture, and of Slavic literature.

The holiday will be marked with solemn celebrations throughout the country.

The former royal palace at Tatoi will be open to the public by 2025, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni has said, a day after former king Constantine II was buried alongside his ancestors at the former royal estate.

"Citizens will have access to the old palaces by 2025," she said, in an interview with private broadcaster Real FM radio.

On the shoulders of his three sons and his grandsons, the late King Constantine was led to his final abode near the graves of his parents and other ancestors, in Tatoi.

The first time I ever spoke with former king Constantine was shortly after the publication of my book "The Rape of Greek Democracy: The American Factor" in 1997. The phone rang and I heard a deep voice say: "Good evening. This is the king." It took me a moment to realize who it was exactly, but that call was the first of many conversations about history over the course of many years to come.

A reported 1,000 police will be deployed for the funeral service and burial of former King Constantine Monday, according to Greek media.

The funeral service for Greece's former King Constantine will be held at 12 noon on Monday at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens while his body will lie in the adjacent chapel of Agios Eleftherios from 6. a.m. to 10 a.m and will be open to members of the public to pay their respects.

The body of the former King will then be transferred to the royal tombs in Tatoi.

The Greek Republic is mature enough to be able to deal with and talk about its history and the protagonists of that history without insecurity and without passions becoming excessively inflamed.

The death of the former king Constantine II is an opportunity to assess his reign and its aftermath from a cool and calm perspective, without insulting anyone or overly praising anyone. 

The last king of Greece, Constantine II, died late Tuesday night, 100 years after the death of his grandfather, Constantine I, who died on January 11, 1923. Constantine was the last king of the dynasty that began with George I, who succeeded Otto in 1863 and remained king of Greece for the next 50 years.

Constantine, the former and last king of Greece, will be buried as a private citizen in Tatoi, the former summer residence of Greece's royals and where his parents and ancestors are buried, the government said Wednesday.

The former king of Greece, Constantine, remained hospitalized in a private Athens clinic's ICU for a fifth straight day on Monday, following a serious stroke.

Constantine, who turns 83 in June, suffered the stroke at his residence in Athens.

Attending physicians said his condition was critical.