King Felipe of Spain, his wife Letizia, and Queen Sofia at the funeral service. Credit: AMNA/Alexandros Beltes
King Felipe of Spain, his wife Letizia, and Queen Sofia of Spain were present at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens for the funeral service for ex-Princess of Greece Irene.
Princess Irene, the younger sister of Queen Sofia of Spain, and former King of Greece, Constantine, passed away at the age of 83 on Thursday, January 15, 2026, in Madrid.
Several other European royals, notably from Denmark, also attended.
Her burial has taken place at the Tatoi cemetery, alongside her brother Constantine and her parents, Paul and Frederica.
King Felipe of Spain, and Queen Sofia. Credit: AMNA/Alexandros Beltes
Irene has reportedly been dealing with cognitive impairment for several years, a condition that has progressively weakened her. Her last public appearance was in February 2025 at the wedding of her nephew, Prince Nikolaos of Greece, in Athens, where she was seen using a wheelchair.
The passing of Princess Irene marks the end of an era for the Greek Royal Family. Known as the “silent princess,” she lived a life that blended royal duty with a deep, personal quest for meaning.
Born in 1942 in South Africa during the family’s flight from the Nazi occupation of Greece, Irene’s life was bookended by displacement. Though she returned to Greece as a child, she spent much of her adulthood in Spain and India. Despite this, she remained a deeply Greek figure, choosing to spend her final moments in the care of her sister Sofia in Madrid before returning to Greek soil for her eternal rest.
Credit: Alexandros Beltes
Irene’s ties to the former Greek royal family
Princess Irene (born 1942) was a central figure in the former Greek royal house, the House of Glücksburg. She was the youngest of the three children of former King Paul I and former Queen Frederica of Greece.
Princess Irene of Greece, sister of Queen Sofia of Spain and the late King Constantine II of Greece, dies aged 83https://t.co/VZgun0cn7r pic.twitter.com/6zR9am56Kt
— Tatler (@Tatlermagazine) January 15, 2026
She was the youngest sister of the late ex-King Constantine II (the last King of the Hellenes, who passed away in 2023) and Queen Sofia of Spain. After her father died in 1964 and her brother Constantine’s accession to the throne, Irene served as the Heiress Presumptive to the Greek throne. She held this position until the birth of Constantine’s first child, Princess Alexia, in 1965.
Following the fall of the Greek monarchy in 1967, she lived in exile in Rome and later India. Since 1981, she had resided in Madrid at the Zarzuela Palace with Queen Sofia to whom she is exceptionally close. Although she remained a Greek princess for most of her life, she officially obtained Spanish nationality in 2018.