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The Prince of Wales was absent from his late godfather King Constantine II of Greece’s memorial service. Prince William pulled out of Tuesday’s Thanksgiving Service, where he was due to give a reading. According to the BBC, Kensington Palace said that His Royal Highness missed the service held at St. George’s Chapel due to a “personal matter.”
The BBC reported that the Prince called the Greek royal family in advance to let them know that he would be unable to join them. ABC News confirmed that William’s personal matter was not related to his father King Charles III ’s health. It was revealed earlier this month that the 75-year-old monarch has been diagnosed with a form of cancer. Meanwhile, Prince William’s wife, the Princess of Wales , has been recovering from abdominal surgery, which she underwent in January.
While King Charles also missed the service on Feb. 27, Queen Camilla was in attendance, along with Princess Anne, Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, Zara and Mike Tindall, Lady Sarah Chatto, Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, in addition to Charles’ former sister-in-law Sarah Ferguson. King Charles’ paternal grandfather, Prince Andrew, was a younger brother of Constantine II’s grandfather, King Constantine I.
King Constantine II died in January of 2023 at the age of 82. The late King was Queen Sofia of Spain and Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark’s brother. The British royals were joined by members of the Greek royal family and Spanish royal family at the service on Feb. 27. Queen Letizia, King Felipe and King Juan Carlos I were among the attendees, as well as Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and his wife Crown Princess Marie-Chantal.