Queen Mother Helen's funeral procession arrives at Curtea de Arges

The funeral procession with the coffin of Queen Mother Helen - wife of King Carol II and mother of King Mihai I of Romania - arrived at Curtea de Arges, where the reburial service will take place on Saturday at the New Archdiocesan and Royal Cathedral. The Romanian Air Force plane carrying the coffin with the remains of Queen Mother Helen touched down Friday morning at the Otopeni International Airport. A religious ceremony was officiated at the airport, attended by Custodian of the Crown of Romania, Margareta, Prince Radu, Princesses Sofia and Maria, lawyer Ioan Luca Vlad and Constanta Iorga, members of Her Majesty's House. The funeral procession then drove to the Elisabeta Palace, where the coffin was placed for a short time in the Hall of Kings. Several dozen Royal House supporters gathered in front of the palace with bouquets and white flower wreaths, as well as tricolor flags. Crown Custodian Margareta, Prince Radu and Princess Sofia and Maria observed a private moment of silence at the bier. They were joined by Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church and a group of hierarchs and priests. From the Elisabeta Palace the funeral procession left for Curtea de Arges on the route Chitila - Titu - Gaesti - Topoloveni - Pitesti. At Curtea de Arges, the coffin of Queen Mother Helen will be placed in the historical Archdiocesan and Royal Cathedral. The reburial ceremony will take place on Saturday at 13:00 hrs, when Queen Helen will be laid to rest with her son King Mihai I - who died in 2017 - at the new Archdiocesan and Royal Cathedral. The Royal Family announced three days of mourning on October 18, 19 and 20. Queen Helen died in Switzerland on November 29, 1982, when Romania was still under the communist dictatorship, and was buried at the Boix-de-Vaud Cemetery in Lausanne. AGERPRES (RO - author: George Onea, editor: Andreea Rotaru; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)