Kirsty Mckenzie
QUEEN Sofia of Spain embarked on a tour of her homeland Greece.
The royal, who was born Princess of Greece and Denmark, kicked off the tour last Sunday, landing at the airport located on the Greek island of Leros.
She was welcomed by Metropolitan Paisios of Leros, Kalymnos and Astypalea, as well as the Mayor of Leros, Kolias Michalis. Also present at Leros Airport were Deputy Mayor of Financial Services Kastis Dimitris, and the Deputy Mayor of Leros, Billis Nektarios.
The monarch, who was born in Athens in 1938, then made her way to her place of birth where she met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The meeting with the head of state took place yesterday Maximos Mansion in downtown Athens.
Royal sources say the pair discussed the pandemic and the renovation of Taroi Palace, where the Queen was born.
Queen Sofia, congratulated Mitsotakis on his handling of the pandemic, telling him ‘the whole world admires Greece’.
The first child of King Paul of Greece and Frederica of Hanover, Sofia and her family were forced into exile during the Second World War and did not return to Greece in 1946.
After spending much of her childhood in Eygpt, the young princess completed her secondary education in a boarding school in Germany before returning to Greece where she specialised in childcare, music and archaeology.
She married her third cousin, King Juan Carlos, in 1962. He abdicated in 2014 in favour of his son King Felipe VI.
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