
Prince Charles and fellow European royals joined tens of thousands of Romanians to pay their respects to the country's late King Michael I as a state funeral got underway on Saturday.

Michael, who ruled Romania twice before being forced to abdicate by the communists in 1947, died aged 96 in Switzerland this month.

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and Spain's former King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, were among those at a pre-funeral service at the Royal Palace in Bucharest where Michael's body had been laying in state for the past two days. The Swedish king saluted as Michael's coffin was placed on a dais.

Among non-European royals attending the funeral was Princess Muna al-Hussein, mother of King Abdullah II of Jordan.

Soldiers carry the coffin of late Romanian King Michael during a funeral ceremony in Bucharest

Other royals including Henri, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium were joined by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis for a sung funeral service, led by the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Daniel.

Bishops wafted incense in the small cathedral where Michael was crowned for the second time on Sept. 6, 1940. Michael, who was a great-great grandson of Queen Victoria, first became king aged five after his father Carol II eloped with his mistress and abdicated.

In the hours before Michael's coffin was taken out of the palace, Romanians gathered silently, many in tears, in Revolution Square. Church bells tolled around the country and a choir of priests sang as the coffin was taken out and was laid on a dais in the square.

Earlier, the crowd cheered and shouted 'King Michael!' as the coffin, led by Orthodox priests and a guard of honor, was transported by an army jeep toward the cathedral.

Last goodbye: Princess Margaret of Hohenzollern, daughter of former Romanian King Michael, touches his coffin, at the former royal palace

From left, Belgium's Prince Lorenz, Princess Astrid, Princess Muna al-Hussein of Jordan, Greece's Queen Anne Marie, Britain's Prince Charles, former Spanish royals, Queen Sofia, King Juan Carlos I, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, Sweden's Queen Silvia and King Carl XVI Gustaf, stand in the front row as they attend the funeral ceremony

Prince Charles, left, former Spanish royals, Queen Sofia, center, and King Juan Carlos I attend the funeral ceremony

Romania's former King Michael (C), accompanied by his daughter Princess Margareta and his nephew Prince Nicolae, waves during a ceremony celebrating both his 92nd birthday in 2013

The crown on the coffin The crown adorning the king's coffin is a replica of the original steel model, which is in Bucharest's National History Museum. The crown was originally made in 1877 for Carol I, Romania's first foreign king, from one of the cannons of Turkish soldiers defeated by Romanian troops in the Bulgarian city of Plevna during the war of independence. Carol I wanted it made from steel rather than gold to symbolize the courage of Romanians soldiers. Advertisement

Michael's five daughters and his estranged grandson Nicholas Medforth-Mills, who was stripped of his title for allegedly fathering a child out of wedlock, walked behind the coffin.

Mourner Georgeta Anastasiu, 60, said the late king had been 'demonized by the communists, but in the end we found out the truth about him.'

She called the king 'the last moral example for Romanians.'

His body will then be taken by a royal train to the central Romanian city of Curtea de Arges where he will be buried next to his wife, Anne de Bourbon-Parme, who died last year.

For many, it's a sad reminder of the train the communists made Michael and his mother Queen Helen take from Bucharest to Switzerland after he was forced to abdicate in December 1947 and began his exile 70 years ago.

It's not clear exactly how much Michael and the royal house owns, but they do have castles and real estate.

While Romania has been a republic for 70 years, the monarchy still holds some allure for Romanians, and Michael was seen as a symbol of morality and modesty.

Honor guard soldiers carry the coffin of the late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony outside the former royal palace

Pictured (L-R): Greece's Queen Anne-Marie, Prince Charles, former Spanish Queen Sofia and former Spanish King Juan Carlos and Princess Margaret of Hohenzollern, daughter of former Romanian King Michael

Prince Charles, Former Spanish Queen Sofia and former Spanish King Juan Carlos attend a funeral ceremony for late Romanian King Michael in Bucharest

Honor guard soldiers carry the coffin of the late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony outside the former royal palace in Bucharest

Greece's Queen Anne-Marie and Britain's Prince Charles engage in conversation as they attend the funeral ceremony

Belgium's Princess Astrid and her husband, Prince Lorenz, Greece's Queen Anne Marie, Britain's Prince Charles, Former Spanish Queen Sofia and former Spanish King Juan Carlos, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden (unseen) and his wife, Sweden's Queen Silvia and Henri, Duke of Luxembourg, (unseen), Crown Princess Margareta of Romania and her husband, Radu Duda at the funeral ceremony

Britain's Prince Charles arrives for the start of the funeral ceremony

Belgium's Princess Astrid and her husband, Prince Lorenz hold hands at the funeral ceremony in Bucharest

Spain's King Juan Carlos I (center L) and his wife Queen Sofia (center R) arrive to pay respect at the coffin of late King

Britain's Prince Charles (C) looks on as orthodox priests lead the funeral ceremony of the late King Michael I of Romania, held in front of former Royal Palace

Former Queen of Spain Sophia (L) and King Henry of Luxembourg arrive to pay their respects to the late King

The royal crown is placed on the coffin of late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony outside the former royal palace in Bucharest

King Juan Carlos I of Spain (R) and Queen Sofia of Spain (L) look on the cortege during the funeral ceremony of the late King Michael I of Romania

Queen Silvia of Sweden (L) and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (R) during the funeral ceremony

Former Spanish royals, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia, arrive to pay their respects to the late Romanian King Michael

King Juan Carlos I (L) of Spain chats with Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (R) during the funeral ceremony

Honor guard soldiers carry the coffin of the late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony

Honor guard soldiers carry the coffin of the late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony

Honor guard soldiers perform a changing of the guard by the coffin of late Romanian King Michael

People wait outside the former royal palace to attend Romanian King Michael's funeral ceremony in Bucharest

A steward checks on a man who kneeled by the coffin of late Romanian King Michael, at the former royal palace

Honor guard soldiers carry the coffin of the late Romanian King Michael during the funeral ceremony

A Romanian boy wearing the royal flag over his shoulders prior to the start of the funeral ceremony of late King Michael I of Romania

King Michael I of Romania, at Heathrow Airport in 1961

Romania's revered king Michael, a long and tragic life

Romania's former king Michael incarnated the tragic fate and political turmoil suffered by his country in the 20th century.

One of the last surviving World War II leaders, the beloved monarch who suffered from leukaemia announced last March he was seriously ill, withdrawing from public life and handing his duties to his eldest daughter Margareta, 68.

Born on October 25, 1921 in Sinaia, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Bucharest, Michael was a descendant of the German Hohenzollern dynasty.

He ruled twice, from 1927 to 1930 and then from 1940 to 1947, before the communist government ended the monarchy in the Balkan country.

He was just 19 when he began his second reign as the war was raging, and Romania, then led by marshal Ion Antonescu, had become an ally of Germany's Adolf Hitler.

Despite his inexperience, the young king managed to stage a coup d'etat in 1944, leading to Antonescu's arrest and Bucharest's joining the allied forces.

But the end of World War II unleashed the rise of communism and Romania became a satellite of the Soviet Union.

The slim, blue-eyed ruler with an unmistakable aristocratic bearing was forced to abdicate and go into exile on December 30, 1947.

Ex-King Michael I of Romania, with wife Anne and daughters, Princess Margarita and Princess Elena, at Aberdeen Station

A few months later, he was also stripped of his citizenship.

Michael opted to settle in Switzerland, where he earned a modest living as an aircraft mechanic and farmer.

He had five daughters with his wife Anne of Bourbon-Parma.

Democracy returned to Romania in 1989 when Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship collapsed.

Dreaming of 'serving' his people again, the former king tried to settle back in his home country on several occasions, but Romanian authorities blocked his attempts.

Fate turned in his favour in 1996 with the ousting of president Ion Iliescu, once a high-ranking communist official and a key opponent of the former monarch.

The new government restored Michael's citizenship the following year and he began to revisit the country.

He also took on some quasi-diplomatic roles for Romania, campaigning for its admission to NATO and the European Union.

After moving back to Bucharest in 2002, he kept a low profile, making only brief appearances in public for major events.

For his 90th birthday in 2011, Michael gave his first parliamentary speech since being deposed.

In the historic address, he spoke of his 'long life, full of happy and unhappy events' and called on Romania to shed 'bad habits of the past'.

He spent his remaining years residing in both Romania and Switzerland.

In 2016, he was diagnosed as suffering from skin cancer and a chronic form of leukaemia. It was also the year that his wife died.