Day of mourning for former queen of Romania

Soldiers carrying the flag-draped coffin of the late Anne of Romania leave the Royal Palace, now the Art Museum of Romania, during the funeral in Bucharest on August 13 Keystone

Thousands of Romanians turned out on Saturday for the funeral of Queen Anne of Romania, the wife of Michael, the country's last king. She died on August 1 in Morges, Switzerland, at the age of 92.

Romania and neighbouring Moldova both observed a national day of mourning on Saturday.

“She was a symbol of our country,” said Eugenia Cristescu, a 79-year-old singer in a local church choir. “The royal family brought about great change in Romania. It raised us from being simple people and brought respect to the country.”

Anne and Michael were married for 68 years. They wed several months after the communists forced him to abdicate in 1947.

Four of the couple’s five daughters were present for the funeral. Michael, 94, has cancer and is living in Switzerland. He did not attend the funeral on the advice of doctors.

Anne’s body has lain in state this week in Romania and will be taken to Curtea de Arges, where members of the royal family are buried.