Constantine II of Greece
Encyclopedia
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Constantine II was King of Greece
from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973, the sixth and last monarch of the Greek Royal Family
.
He succeeded his father Paul
in March 1964, being styled His Majesty Constantine II, King of the Hellenes . Although the accession of the young monarch was initially regarded auspiciously, his reign soon became controversial: Constantine's involvement in the Apostasia
of July 1965 made him unpopular in broad parts of the population and aggravated the ongoing political instability that culminated in the Colonels' Coup of 21 April 1967.
The coup stood on scant legitimate ground until Constantine, as head of state, agreed to inaugurate the putschist government, thereby legitimizing it; this act became the subject of much criticism. On 13 December 1967, he was forced to flee the country following an abortive counter-coup against the junta, although he remained de jure head of state
until 1 June 1973, when the junta abolished the monarchy and declared a republic.
This abolition was confirmed after the fall
of the junta by a plebiscite on 8 December 1974, which established the Third Hellenic Republic. Constantine accepted the results of the plebiscite.
, a plush suburb in northern Athens, the nephew of King George II
and the second child and only son of the king's brother and heir-presumptive, Crown Prince Paul
. His mother was Crown Princess Frederika, the former Princess Frederika of Hanover
. Constantine's older sister Sofia
is the current queen consort
of Spain
, while his younger sister, Princess Irene
, has not married.
He was one year old when Nazi Germany
invaded Greece
, and he spent the next four years in exile in Egypt
and Cape Town
, (where his sister Irene was born), with his family. He returned to Greece with his family in 1946. King George died in 1947, and his brother became King Paul, making Constantine crown prince. He was educated at a preparatory school and later a boarding school where he was an above average student academically. A fellow student recalled him as, "a good chap, a young man with all the right instincts. He was at his best on the playing fields."
Constantine served in all the three armed services
, attending the requisite military academies. He also attended the NATO Air Force Special Weapons School in Germany, as well as the Athens University where he undertook courses at the law school.
As a young man, Crown Prince Constantine was a keen sportsman. In 1960, at the age of 20, he competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics
in Rome
, winning a gold medal in sailing
(Dragon Class
). He was also a strong swimmer and has a black belt
in karate
, with interests in squash, track events and riding.
On 18 September 1964, in a Greek Orthodox
ceremony in the Metropolis, the Greek Orthodox cathedral of Athens
, he married Danish
Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, a triple third cousin, sister of the current Danish queen, Margrethe II
.
King Constantine was seen by some as young and inexperienced, and under the influence of his mother. Some politicians had a low opinion of Constantine.
King Paul's long-time prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis regarded him partly responsible for his fall
in 1963.
However, due to his youth, he was also perceived as a promise of change. The ascension of Constantine coincided with the recent election
of Centrist
George Papandreou as prime minister
in February 1964, which ended 11 years of right-wing rule by the National Radical Union
(ERE).
Greece was still feeling the effects of the Civil War
of 1944-49 between communists and monarchists, and society was strongly polarised between the royalist/conservative right and the liberal/socialist center-left. It was hoped that the new young king and the new prime minister would be able to overcome past dissensions.
Initially, relations between the king and Papandreou seemed good, but by 1965, these halcyon days
ended. The conservative establishment feared the rising influence of Papandreou's left-leaning son Andreas
, and the outbreak of the ASPIDA scandal seemed to confirm their suspicions.
The name of Andreas Papandreou was implicated in the case, and when the defense minister, Petros Garoufalias tried to form a committee of inquiry into the alleged scandal, the prime minister forced his resignation. Immediately, George Papandreou assigned the defence portfolio to himself, which caused alarm in the palace and the conservative security circles, which interpreted this move as an attempt by Papandreou to control the army. Constantine refused to accept the self-appointment, and a new political issue resulted.
Constantine proposed the appointment of any other person of the prime minister's choosing as defence minister because, as the king argued, there was a conflict of interest: the prime minister's son was allegedly involved in the scandal.
Papandreou rejected the king's proposition, although he had initially shown some willingness to accept it, and submitted his own resignation, stating that it was well within his constitutional powers as the elected prime minister commanding a Parliamentary majority to appoint his ministers at his pleasure, and it was beyond the constitutional powers of the king to refuse him this right.
A short time after his resignation, Constantine appointed a new government led by Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas
, who failed to ensure the Parliament's confidence. This appointment, which became known as the "Royal Coup" (Το Βασιλικό Πραξικόπημα), evoked much criticism as being unconstitutional.
According to the critics, the appointment of this and successive governments consisting of aisle-crossers instead of the proclamation of new elections, caused a constitutional crisis and political instability that lasted for more than two years and led to the dictatorship of 1967–1974
.
After his failure, Novas was succeeded by Ilias Tsirimokos
, who also failed to form a stable government and was dismissed. Constantine next appointed some of Papandreou's dissidents, known as the July Apostates
and led by Stefanos Stefanopoulos, to form a government of "king's men," which lasted until December 1966, amidst mounting strikes and protests, supported by the right-wing ERE.
When Stefanopoulos resigned in frustration, Constantine appointed a caretaker government under Ioannis Paraskevopoulos
, which called elections for May 1967. This government did not even last till the scheduled elections. It was replaced on 3 April 1967 by another caretaker government under ERE's leader, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
.
would have a very powerful role in the next government.
According to the United States diplomats Robert Keely and John Owens, who were attached to the United States embassy in Greece at the time, Constantine asked United States Ambassador Phillip Talbot what the attitude of the United States government would be to an extra-parliamentary solution to this problem. The embassy responded negatively in principle, adding that "US reaction to such a move cannot be determined in advance but would depend on circumstances at time". To this day, Constantine denies all this.
According to then-Ambassador from the United States Phillip Talbot, after this communication, Constantine met with the generals of the army, who promised the king that they would not take any action before the coming elections. However, they were nervous by the proclamations of Andreas Papandreou and reserved to re-examine taking actions according to the results of the election.
However, a traditionalist, right-wing nationalist group of middle-ranking army officers led by Colonel George Papadopoulos
took action first and staged a coup d'état on 21 April
. The coup leaders met Constantine at his residence in Tatoi
, which was surrounded by tanks to prevent resistance.
Constantine later recounted that the officers of the tank platoons believed they were carrying out the coup under his orders. The king argued with the colonels and initially dismissed them. Later in the day, he went to the Ministry of National Defence, where all coup leaders were gathered, and had a discussion with Kanellopoulos and with leading generals. He agreed to concede to the military demands and swear the new regime in only when the junta agreed to include a number of civilian politicians, with a royalist nominee, Konstantinos Kollias
, as prime minister.
However Panayotis Kanellopoulos, the last legitimate prime minister of Greece prior to the coup, acting as witness for the prosecution, at the junta trials
in 1975 during metapolitefsi
, testified how he was arrested by machine-gun
toting soldiers and transported to the palace to meet king Constantine. He added that during the meeting he urged the king to use his status as commander-in-chief
of the Greek military
to order loyal officers to crush the coup. Constantine apparently refused to do so because he feared bloodshed.
From the outset, the relationship between Constantine and the notorious regime of the colonels was an uneasy one. Constantine organised a counter-coup and it was probably meant as one, although no help or involvement of the United States was forthcoming.
The king finally decided to launch his counter-coup on 13 December 1967. Since Athens was effectively in the hands of the junta militarily, Constantine decided to fly to the small northern city of Kavala
, east of Thessaloniki
. There he hoped to be among troops loyal only to him.
The vague plan he and his advisors had conceived was to form a unit that would advance to Thessaloniki (Greece's second biggest city and unofficial capital of northern Greece) and take it. Constantine planned to install an alternative administration there. International recognition, which he believed to be forthcoming, as well as internal pressure from the fact that Greece would have been split in two governments would, the king hoped, force the junta to resign, leaving the field clear for him to return triumphant to Athens.
In the early morning hours of 13 December, the king boarded the royal plane together with Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
, their two young children, Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark
and Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
, his mother, Queen Frederika, and his sister, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
. Constantine also took with him Premier Kollias.
At first things seemed to be going according to plan. Constantine was well received in Kavala which, militarily, was under the command of a general loyal to him. The air force and navy, both strongly royalist and not involved in the 1967 coup, immediately declared for him and mobilised. Another of Constantine's generals effectively cut all communication between Athens and the north.
However, the king's plans were overly bureaucratic, naïvely supposing that orders from a commanding general would automatically be followed. Further, the king was obsessive about avoiding "bloodshed" even where the junta would be the attacker.
Under these circumstances, rather than managing to put together a force and advancing on Thessaloniki, middle-ranking pro-junta officers neutralised and arrested his royalist generals and took command of their units, which subsequently put together a force advancing on Kavala to arrest the king.
Realising that the countercoup had failed, Constantine fled Greece on board the royal plane, taking his family and hapless premier with him.
They landed in Rome
early in the morning of 14 December, where remained in exile all through the rest of military rule (although nominally he continued as king until 1 June 1973) and was never to return to Greece as king.
Constantine stated, "I am sure I shall go back the way my ancestors did." The world had changed significantly though since the monarchy had made its last comeback. Constantine continued to watch events from abroad. He said to the Toronto Star, "I consider myself King of the Hellenes and sole expression of legality in my country until the Greek people freely decide otherwise. I fully expected that the (military) regime would depose me eventually. They are frightened of the Crown because it is a unifying force among the people." With Constantine abroad, Colonel George Papadopoulos
illegally appointed himself prime-minister and General George Zoitakis
as regent.
Over the next year the junta sent intermediaries to the king to negotiate the terms on which he might return to Greece. But Constantine insisted on the full restoration of democracy under the existing constitution as a precondition, and George Papadopoulos would not agree to this. Instead the regime illegally promulgated a new constitution in November 1968, which retained the monarchy, but stripped it of its powers, and provided for a permanent regency until the king chose to accept the new order. This standoff continued until 1972, when George Papadopoulos illegally dismissed George Zoitakis
and appointed himself regent.
In June 1973, George Papadopoulos condemned Constantine as "a collaborator with foreign forces and with murderers" and accused him of "pursuing ambitions to become a political leader."
The military dictators had grown deeply unpopular. They had never had the support of the Greek people. In May, officers of the largely royalist navy staged an abortive coup, although Constantine himself was not involved.
George Papadopoulos retaliated by illegally declaring Greece a republic
(1 June), a decision which was confirmed by a plebiscite
on 29 July. The vote was widely presumed to be rigged. King Constantine refused to accept the outcome. Randall J. Dicks, Governor of the Constantian Society of Ohio, USA, had a bitter view of Papadopoulos' credibility, "To no one's surprise, the mock plebiscite resulted in a 78.4 per cent vote in favour of a republic. There have been reports of irregularities at polling stations and blatant falsification of the final result ..." George Papadopoulos then declared himself president
, but in November there was a coup within the regime and he was replaced by General Phaidon Ghizikis, who was a front for the new military strongman, Dimitrios Ioannides
.
led to the downfall of the military regime, and Karamanlis returned from exile to become prime minister. The 1973 republican constitution was regarded as illegitimate, and the new administration issued a constitutional decree restoring the 1952 constitution. Constantine confidently awaited an invitation to return. On 24 July he declared his, "deep satisfaction with the initiative of the armed forces in overthrowing the dictatorial regime" and welcomed the advent of Karamanlis as prime minister.
The former king visited both Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street and openly declared his hope to be shortly returning to Greece. Following Karamanlis' resounding victory in the November 1974 parliamentary elections (his New Democracy
party won 54.4% of the vote), he called for a referendum (for 8 December 1974) on whether Greece would restore the monarchy or remain a republic.
Although he had been the leader of the traditionally monarchist right, Karamanlis made no effort to sway his constituency either way: instead he called on them to vote "according to their conscience".
The left voted overwhelmingly to keep the republic because the former king was perceived by them as having engaged in political interference far beyond the scope of the monarchical prerogative. They also objected to the undue influence that was exercised by members of the royal family who had no constitutional role in the political life of the country; the former king's mother, Queen Frederika, being a case in point.
The referendum also received overwhelming support by the centrist voters who condemned Constantine for, among other things, swearing in the junta in 1967. They also blamed his reluctance to sever all ties with the junta once in exile, and the dismissal of the legitimately-elected George Papandreou administration in 1965, the event which some believed led to the coup.
Given these circumstances, the former king was not allowed to return to Greece to campaign on behalf of restoring the monarchy. He was only allowed to broadcast to the Greek people from London on television.
Constantine freely admitted his past mistakes, claimed to have sound democratic intentions in the future and promised that his mother would stay away from the country. Local monarchists campaigned on his behalf. The vote to restore the monarchy was only about 31%, having most of his support from the Peloponnese
region, with almost 69% of the electorate voting against the restoration of the monarchy and for the establishment of a republican parliamentary democracy. The result was met with massive celebrations in the streets of Athens and other major cities.
.
There were also legal disputes with the Greek state, since Constantine was unwilling to pay taxes on his property in Greece while not being able to enjoy the benefit of their use. In the early 1990s, Constantine began appearing in the Greek media more often.
In 1992 he concluded an agreement with the conservative government of Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis
, ceding most of his land in Greece to a non-profit foundation in exchange for the former palace of Tatoi, near Athens, and the right to export a number of movables from Greece. The latter reportedly included privately owned art treasures from the royal palaces. As such no formal account of what was removed was ever given or needed to be given. In 1993, Constantine visited Greece, but faced with increasingly loud protests, the government asked him to leave.
In 1994, the second government of Andreas Papandreou
passed new legislation reversing the 1992 agreement and stripping Constantine of his property in Greece and his Greek citizenship. Constantine then sued Greece at the European Court of Human Rights
, claiming ownership of lands worth in excess of €550 million. He won, receiving a monetary compensation of €4 million for the lost property, with a far smaller sum awarded to his unmarried younger sister, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
. The Greek government chose to pay out of the "extraordinary natural disasters" fund , but was not obliged by the court's decision to return any lands (the Court of Human Rights only awards monetary compensation).
Constantine, in turn, announced the creation of the Anna Maria Foundation, to allocate the funds in question back to the Greek people for use in "extraordinary natural disasters" and charitable causes. The court decision also ruled that Constantine's human rights were not violated by the Greek state's decision not to grant him Greek citizenship and passport until he acquires a surname, which Constantine refuses to take to date, citing the fact that his family has no surname. Additionally, he uses his royal title, citing international protocol.
The Greek Republican Constitution states that no titles of nobility are recognized by the Greek state for Greek citizens.
, "If the Greek people decide that they want a republic, they are entitled to have that and should be left in peace to enjoy it".
Until 1994, Constantine's official Greek passport identified him as "Constantine, former King of the Hellenes." A law passed in 1994 stripped him of his Greek citizenship, passport, and property. The law stated that Constantine could not be granted a Greek passport unless he adopted a surname. Constantine has since refused to comply. He continues to use the title "King Constantine," although he no longer uses "Constantine, King of the Hellenes".
He is also frequently referred to as Mr. Glücksburg; this reference to his family dates back to at least 1935 when Archimandrite
Christoforos Ktenas referred to the late King Constantine I of Greece as "Ντίνος Γλυξβούργος" (Tino Glücksburg), in his book on Mount Athos. Glücksburg was mainly used by opponents of constitutional monarchy, and drew attention to the fact that the Greek royal family is not of Hellenic origin.
Today, this appellation is more widespread and also draws attention to the fact that Constantine's family lacks a legal surname in Greece. Constantine has stated: "I don't have a name - my family doesn't have a name. The law that Mr. Papandreou passed basically says that he considers that I am not Greek and that my family was Greek only so long as we were exercising the responsibilities of sovereign, and I had to go out and acquire a name. The problem is that my family originates from Denmark, and the Danish royal family haven't got a surname." Glücksburg, he said, was not a family name but the name of a town
. "I might as well call myself Mr. Kensington."
In 2004, Constantine was back in Greece temporarily during the Athens Olympic Games as a member of the International Olympic Committee. He freely travels in and out of Greece on a Danish diplomatic passport, as Constantino de Grecia (Spanish
for "Constantine of Greece"). This, because Denmark (upon request) issues diplomatic passports to any descendants of King Christian IX
and Queen Louise
. However, Constantine is a Prince of Denmark in his own right.
During his first visit to Greece using this passport, Constantine was mocked by some of the Greek media, which hellenized
the "de Grecia" designation and used it as a surname, thus naming him Κωνσταντίνος Ντεγκρέτσιας ("Constantine Degrecias"). Recently, Constantine has reportedly bought a sizeable piece of land on the Saronic
coast south of Athens.
Constantine and Anne-Marie
now live in the London
suburb of Hampstead
, where Constantine is a close friend of his second cousin Charles, Prince of Wales
and a godfather to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, his second cousin once removed.
Constantine and Prince Charles are second cousins because their grandfathers (King Constantine I of Greece and Prince Andrew of Greece, father of the Duke of Edinburgh
) were brothers. Constantine is twice a third cousin of Elizabeth II, as both are great-great-grandchildren of King Christian IX
(Elizabeth through her great-grandmother Queen Alexandra
, consort of Edward VII
) as well as of Queen Victoria (Constantine through his grandmother Queen Sophia
, daughter of Victoria, Princess Royal
). As with other exiled royalty living abroad, he is invited to royal functions under his former regnal name
and title.
On 24 December 2004, Constantine and Anne-Marie and members of the royal family visited the Presidential Palace (the former Royal Palace) in Athens where Constantine met with President Costis Stephanopoulos
, who gave them a tour of the palace.
In 2008, during the Olympic Games in Beijing, Constantine II, in his role as honorary member of the International Olympic Committee
, was the official presenter at the sailing medal ceremonies.
Constantine II is also Co-President of Honour of the International Sailing Federation
with King Harald V of Norway
, since 1994.
In Greece
, he is referred to as ο τέως βασιλιάς ("the former king") or with the pejorative terms ο Τέως ("the Ex") or o Γλύξμπουργκ ("Glücksburg"). He is referred to as ο βασιλιάς ("the king") by Greek monarchists.
As a male-line descendant of Christian IX of Denmark
he retains his title as Prince of Denmark
, although constitutional changes removed the Greek cadet branch
from the line of Danish succession.
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!width = "35%" style="text-align:left"|Award or order
!width = "32%" style="text-align:left"|Class or position
!width = "5%" style="text-align:left"|Medal
!width = "8%" style="text-aligh:left"|Year
|-
|
Norway
|Order of St Olav
|Grand Cross & Grand Cross with Collar
|
|1962–present
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Denmark
|Order of the Elephant
|Knight with Collar
|
|1962–present
|-
| Denmark
|Order of the Dannebrog
|Grand Commander
|
|1962–present
|-
|
Spain
|Order of the Golden Fleece
|Knight
|
|1964–present
|-
| Spain
Italy
|Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
|Knight Grand Cross of Justice
|
|2008–present
|}
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Constantine II was King of Greece
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 in the Convention of London by the Great Powers...
from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973, the sixth and last monarch of the Greek Royal Family
Greek Royal Family
The Greek Royal Family was a branch of the House of Glücksburg that reigned in Greece from 1863 to 1924 and again from 1935 to 1973. Its first monarch was George I. He and his successors styled themselves "Kings of the Hellenes"...
.
He succeeded his father Paul
Paul of Greece
Paul reigned as King of Greece from 1947 to 1964.-Family and early life:Paul was born in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He was trained as a naval officer....
in March 1964, being styled His Majesty Constantine II, King of the Hellenes . Although the accession of the young monarch was initially regarded auspiciously, his reign soon became controversial: Constantine's involvement in the Apostasia
Apostasia of 1965
The terms Apostasia or Iouliana or the Royal Coup are used to describe the political crisis in Greece that centred around the resignation, on 15 July 1965, of Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and the appointment, by King Constantine II, of successive Prime Ministers from Papandreou's own...
of July 1965 made him unpopular in broad parts of the population and aggravated the ongoing political instability that culminated in the Colonels' Coup of 21 April 1967.
The coup stood on scant legitimate ground until Constantine, as head of state, agreed to inaugurate the putschist government, thereby legitimizing it; this act became the subject of much criticism. On 13 December 1967, he was forced to flee the country following an abortive counter-coup against the junta, although he remained de jure head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
until 1 June 1973, when the junta abolished the monarchy and declared a republic.
This abolition was confirmed after the fall
Metapolitefsi
The Metapolitefsi was a period in Greek history after the fall of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 that includes the transitional period from the fall of the dictatorship to the Greek legislative elections of 1974 and the democratic period immediately after these elections.The long...
of the junta by a plebiscite on 8 December 1974, which established the Third Hellenic Republic. Constantine accepted the results of the plebiscite.
Early life
Constantine was born at PsychikoPsychiko
Psychiko is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filothei-Psychiko, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit.Psychiko is located to the south of the Olympic stadium...
, a plush suburb in northern Athens, the nephew of King George II
George II of Greece
George II reigned as King of Greece from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.-Early life, first period of kingship and exile:George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia...
and the second child and only son of the king's brother and heir-presumptive, Crown Prince Paul
Paul of Greece
Paul reigned as King of Greece from 1947 to 1964.-Family and early life:Paul was born in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He was trained as a naval officer....
. His mother was Crown Princess Frederika, the former Princess Frederika of Hanover
Frederika of Hanover
Frederica of Hanover was Queen consort of the Hellenes as the wife of King Paul of Greece.-Early life:...
. Constantine's older sister Sofia
Queen Sofía of Spain
Queen Sofía of Spain is the wife of King Juan Carlos I of Spain.-Early life and family:Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark was born in Psychiko, Athens, Greece on 2 November 1938, the eldest child of the King Paul of Greece and his wife, Queen Frederika , a former princess of Hanover...
is the current queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, while his younger sister, Princess Irene
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark is the youngest child of King Paul of Greece and his wife Frederika of Hanover. She is the younger sister of Queen Sofía of Spain and of deposed King Constantine II of Greece...
, has not married.
He was one year old when Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
invaded Greece
Battle of Greece
The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...
, and he spent the next four years in exile in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, (where his sister Irene was born), with his family. He returned to Greece with his family in 1946. King George died in 1947, and his brother became King Paul, making Constantine crown prince. He was educated at a preparatory school and later a boarding school where he was an above average student academically. A fellow student recalled him as, "a good chap, a young man with all the right instincts. He was at his best on the playing fields."
Constantine served in all the three armed services
Military of Greece
The armed forces of Greece consist of:* The Hellenic National Defense General Staff* The Hellenic Army* The Hellenic Navy* The Hellenic Air ForceThe civilian authority for the Greek military is the Ministry of National Defense....
, attending the requisite military academies. He also attended the NATO Air Force Special Weapons School in Germany, as well as the Athens University where he undertook courses at the law school.
As a young man, Crown Prince Constantine was a keen sportsman. In 1960, at the age of 20, he competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, winning a gold medal in sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
(Dragon Class
Dragon (keelboat)
thumbThe International Dragon is a one-design keelboat.The Dragon was designed by Norwegian Johan Anker in 1929. In 1948 the Dragon became an Olympic Class, a status it retained until the Munich Olympics in 1972...
). He was also a strong swimmer and has a black belt
Black belt (martial arts)
In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
in karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
, with interests in squash, track events and riding.
Reign
In 1964 King Paul died of cancer, and the 23-year-old Constantine succeeded him as king.On 18 September 1964, in a Greek Orthodox
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
ceremony in the Metropolis, the Greek Orthodox cathedral of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, he married Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, a triple third cousin, sister of the current Danish queen, Margrethe II
Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375-1412 during the Kalmar Union.-Early life:...
.
King Constantine was seen by some as young and inexperienced, and under the influence of his mother. Some politicians had a low opinion of Constantine.
King Paul's long-time prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis regarded him partly responsible for his fall
Greek legislative election, 1963
The Greek legislative election of the 3 November 1963 resulted in a narrow victory for the Center Union of Georgios Papandreou after three consecutive victories of Constantine Karamanlis and his National Radical Union party and after 11 years, during which the conservative parties ruled...
in 1963.
However, due to his youth, he was also perceived as a promise of change. The ascension of Constantine coincided with the recent election
Greek legislative election, 1964
The Greek legislative election of the 19 February 1964 resulted in a clear victory for Georgios Papandreou and his Center Union party.Georgios Papandreou had formed an interim government just after the legislative elections of 1963, in order to carry out new elections, because no party had the...
of Centrist
Center Union
The Centre Union was a Greek political party, created in 1961 by George Papandreou, senior.The party was elected to power in 1963, with Papandreou as Prime Minister...
George Papandreou as prime minister
Prime Minister of Greece
The Prime Minister of Greece , officially the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic , is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek cabinet. The current interim Prime Minister is Lucas Papademos, a former Vice President of the European Central Bank, following...
in February 1964, which ended 11 years of right-wing rule by the National Radical Union
National Radical Union
The National Radical Union was a Greek political party formed in 1955 by Konstantinos Karamanlis out of the Greek Rally party....
(ERE).
Greece was still feeling the effects of the Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
of 1944-49 between communists and monarchists, and society was strongly polarised between the royalist/conservative right and the liberal/socialist center-left. It was hoped that the new young king and the new prime minister would be able to overcome past dissensions.
Initially, relations between the king and Papandreou seemed good, but by 1965, these halcyon days
Alcyone
In Greek mythology, Alcyone was the daughter of Aeolus, either by Enarete or Aegiale. She married Ceyx, son of Eosphorus, the Morning Star....
ended. The conservative establishment feared the rising influence of Papandreou's left-leaning son Andreas
Andreas Papandreou
Andreas G. Papandreou ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics. The son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas was a Harvard-trained academic...
, and the outbreak of the ASPIDA scandal seemed to confirm their suspicions.
The name of Andreas Papandreou was implicated in the case, and when the defense minister, Petros Garoufalias tried to form a committee of inquiry into the alleged scandal, the prime minister forced his resignation. Immediately, George Papandreou assigned the defence portfolio to himself, which caused alarm in the palace and the conservative security circles, which interpreted this move as an attempt by Papandreou to control the army. Constantine refused to accept the self-appointment, and a new political issue resulted.
Constantine proposed the appointment of any other person of the prime minister's choosing as defence minister because, as the king argued, there was a conflict of interest: the prime minister's son was allegedly involved in the scandal.
Papandreou rejected the king's proposition, although he had initially shown some willingness to accept it, and submitted his own resignation, stating that it was well within his constitutional powers as the elected prime minister commanding a Parliamentary majority to appoint his ministers at his pleasure, and it was beyond the constitutional powers of the king to refuse him this right.
A short time after his resignation, Constantine appointed a new government led by Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas
Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas
Georgios Athanasiadis–Novas was a Greek lawyer, politician and Prime Minister.Born in Naupactus, he obtained his law degree from the University of Athens...
, who failed to ensure the Parliament's confidence. This appointment, which became known as the "Royal Coup" (Το Βασιλικό Πραξικόπημα), evoked much criticism as being unconstitutional.
According to the critics, the appointment of this and successive governments consisting of aisle-crossers instead of the proclamation of new elections, caused a constitutional crisis and political instability that lasted for more than two years and led to the dictatorship of 1967–1974
Greek military junta of 1967-1974
The Greek military junta of 1967–1974, alternatively "The Regime of the Colonels" , or in Greece "The Junta", and "The Seven Years" are terms used to refer to a series of right-wing military governments that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974...
.
After his failure, Novas was succeeded by Ilias Tsirimokos
Ilias Tsirimokos
Ilias Tsirimokos was a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister for a very brief period .-Life:...
, who also failed to form a stable government and was dismissed. Constantine next appointed some of Papandreou's dissidents, known as the July Apostates
Apostasia of 1965
The terms Apostasia or Iouliana or the Royal Coup are used to describe the political crisis in Greece that centred around the resignation, on 15 July 1965, of Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and the appointment, by King Constantine II, of successive Prime Ministers from Papandreou's own...
and led by Stefanos Stefanopoulos, to form a government of "king's men," which lasted until December 1966, amidst mounting strikes and protests, supported by the right-wing ERE.
When Stefanopoulos resigned in frustration, Constantine appointed a caretaker government under Ioannis Paraskevopoulos
Ioannis Paraskevopoulos
Ioannis Paraskevopoulos , was a Greek banker and politician who served twice as interim Prime Minister of Greece during the 1960s. He was born in Lavda, Olympia....
, which called elections for May 1967. This government did not even last till the scheduled elections. It was replaced on 3 April 1967 by another caretaker government under ERE's leader, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
Panagiotis Kanellopoulos or Panayotis Kanellopoulos was a distinguished Greek politician and Prime Minister of Greece. He was the Prime Minister of Greece deposed by the Greek military junta of 1967-1974....
.
Greek dictatorship 1967–1974
Elections were scheduled for 28 May 1967, with expectations of a wide Centrist victory. According to United States diplomat John Day, the Americans worried that, due to the old age of George Papandreou, Andreas PapandreouAndreas Papandreou
Andreas G. Papandreou ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics. The son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas was a Harvard-trained academic...
would have a very powerful role in the next government.
According to the United States diplomats Robert Keely and John Owens, who were attached to the United States embassy in Greece at the time, Constantine asked United States Ambassador Phillip Talbot what the attitude of the United States government would be to an extra-parliamentary solution to this problem. The embassy responded negatively in principle, adding that "US reaction to such a move cannot be determined in advance but would depend on circumstances at time". To this day, Constantine denies all this.
According to then-Ambassador from the United States Phillip Talbot, after this communication, Constantine met with the generals of the army, who promised the king that they would not take any action before the coming elections. However, they were nervous by the proclamations of Andreas Papandreou and reserved to re-examine taking actions according to the results of the election.
However, a traditionalist, right-wing nationalist group of middle-ranking army officers led by Colonel George Papadopoulos
George Papadopoulos
Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos was the head of the military coup d'état that took place in Greece on 21 April 1967 and leader of the military government that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974. Papadopoulos was a Colonel of Artillery...
took action first and staged a coup d'état on 21 April
Greek military junta of 1967-1974
The Greek military junta of 1967–1974, alternatively "The Regime of the Colonels" , or in Greece "The Junta", and "The Seven Years" are terms used to refer to a series of right-wing military governments that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974...
. The coup leaders met Constantine at his residence in Tatoi
Tatoi
Tatoi, located 5 km north of Athens's suburbs, and 27 km from the Athenian Acropolis was the summer palace and 10,000 acre estate of the former Greek Royal Family, and the site of George II of the Hellenes's birth...
, which was surrounded by tanks to prevent resistance.
Constantine later recounted that the officers of the tank platoons believed they were carrying out the coup under his orders. The king argued with the colonels and initially dismissed them. Later in the day, he went to the Ministry of National Defence, where all coup leaders were gathered, and had a discussion with Kanellopoulos and with leading generals. He agreed to concede to the military demands and swear the new regime in only when the junta agreed to include a number of civilian politicians, with a royalist nominee, Konstantinos Kollias
Konstantinos Kollias
Konstantinos Kollias was a former Greek Attorney General who was proclaimed Prime Minister by the Greek military junta of 1967-1974 that overthrew Panagiotis Kanellopoulos' government on 21 April 1967....
, as prime minister.
However Panayotis Kanellopoulos, the last legitimate prime minister of Greece prior to the coup, acting as witness for the prosecution, at the junta trials
Greek Junta Trials
The Greek Junta Trials were the trials involving members of the military junta that ruled Greece from 21 April 1967 to 23 July 1974. These trials involved the instigators of the coup as well as other junta members of various ranks who took part in the events of the Athens Polytechnic uprising and...
in 1975 during metapolitefsi
Metapolitefsi
The Metapolitefsi was a period in Greek history after the fall of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 that includes the transitional period from the fall of the dictatorship to the Greek legislative elections of 1974 and the democratic period immediately after these elections.The long...
, testified how he was arrested by machine-gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
toting soldiers and transported to the palace to meet king Constantine. He added that during the meeting he urged the king to use his status as commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the Greek military
Military of Greece
The armed forces of Greece consist of:* The Hellenic National Defense General Staff* The Hellenic Army* The Hellenic Navy* The Hellenic Air ForceThe civilian authority for the Greek military is the Ministry of National Defense....
to order loyal officers to crush the coup. Constantine apparently refused to do so because he feared bloodshed.
From the outset, the relationship between Constantine and the notorious regime of the colonels was an uneasy one. Constantine organised a counter-coup and it was probably meant as one, although no help or involvement of the United States was forthcoming.
The king finally decided to launch his counter-coup on 13 December 1967. Since Athens was effectively in the hands of the junta militarily, Constantine decided to fly to the small northern city of Kavala
Kavala
Kavala , is the second largest city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala peripheral unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos...
, east of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
. There he hoped to be among troops loyal only to him.
The vague plan he and his advisors had conceived was to form a unit that would advance to Thessaloniki (Greece's second biggest city and unofficial capital of northern Greece) and take it. Constantine planned to install an alternative administration there. International recognition, which he believed to be forthcoming, as well as internal pressure from the fact that Greece would have been split in two governments would, the king hoped, force the junta to resign, leaving the field clear for him to return triumphant to Athens.
In the early morning hours of 13 December, the king boarded the royal plane together with Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece is the wife of former King Constantine II of Greece, who was deposed in referendums in 1973 and in 1974. Her title "Queen of Greece" is not recognized under the terms of the republican Constitution of Greece...
, their two young children, Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark
Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark
Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark , born 10 July 1965, is the elder daughter and eldest child of former King Constantine II of Greece and former Queen Anna-Marie .-Early life:Princess Alexia was born at Mon Repos, Corfu, Ionian Islands,...
and Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, is the eldest son and heir apparent of Constantine II, who was King of Greece from 1964 to 1973....
, his mother, Queen Frederika, and his sister, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark is the youngest child of King Paul of Greece and his wife Frederika of Hanover. She is the younger sister of Queen Sofía of Spain and of deposed King Constantine II of Greece...
. Constantine also took with him Premier Kollias.
At first things seemed to be going according to plan. Constantine was well received in Kavala which, militarily, was under the command of a general loyal to him. The air force and navy, both strongly royalist and not involved in the 1967 coup, immediately declared for him and mobilised. Another of Constantine's generals effectively cut all communication between Athens and the north.
However, the king's plans were overly bureaucratic, naïvely supposing that orders from a commanding general would automatically be followed. Further, the king was obsessive about avoiding "bloodshed" even where the junta would be the attacker.
Under these circumstances, rather than managing to put together a force and advancing on Thessaloniki, middle-ranking pro-junta officers neutralised and arrested his royalist generals and took command of their units, which subsequently put together a force advancing on Kavala to arrest the king.
Realising that the countercoup had failed, Constantine fled Greece on board the royal plane, taking his family and hapless premier with him.
They landed in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
early in the morning of 14 December, where remained in exile all through the rest of military rule (although nominally he continued as king until 1 June 1973) and was never to return to Greece as king.
Constantine stated, "I am sure I shall go back the way my ancestors did." The world had changed significantly though since the monarchy had made its last comeback. Constantine continued to watch events from abroad. He said to the Toronto Star, "I consider myself King of the Hellenes and sole expression of legality in my country until the Greek people freely decide otherwise. I fully expected that the (military) regime would depose me eventually. They are frightened of the Crown because it is a unifying force among the people." With Constantine abroad, Colonel George Papadopoulos
George Papadopoulos
Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos was the head of the military coup d'état that took place in Greece on 21 April 1967 and leader of the military government that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974. Papadopoulos was a Colonel of Artillery...
illegally appointed himself prime-minister and General George Zoitakis
Georgios Zoitakis
Georgios Zoitakis was a Greek Army general and regent of Greece from 13 December 1967 to 21 March 1972, during the period of the military regime of the Colonels.- Life :...
as regent.
Over the next year the junta sent intermediaries to the king to negotiate the terms on which he might return to Greece. But Constantine insisted on the full restoration of democracy under the existing constitution as a precondition, and George Papadopoulos would not agree to this. Instead the regime illegally promulgated a new constitution in November 1968, which retained the monarchy, but stripped it of its powers, and provided for a permanent regency until the king chose to accept the new order. This standoff continued until 1972, when George Papadopoulos illegally dismissed George Zoitakis
Georgios Zoitakis
Georgios Zoitakis was a Greek Army general and regent of Greece from 13 December 1967 to 21 March 1972, during the period of the military regime of the Colonels.- Life :...
and appointed himself regent.
In June 1973, George Papadopoulos condemned Constantine as "a collaborator with foreign forces and with murderers" and accused him of "pursuing ambitions to become a political leader."
The military dictators had grown deeply unpopular. They had never had the support of the Greek people. In May, officers of the largely royalist navy staged an abortive coup, although Constantine himself was not involved.
George Papadopoulos retaliated by illegally declaring Greece a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
(1 June), a decision which was confirmed by a plebiscite
Greek plebiscite, 1973
The Greek plebiscite of 29 July 1973 was held by the then ruling dictatorial regime under Georgios Papadopoulos and resulted in the abolition of monarchy and the establishment of a Republic, initiating the first period of the Metapolitefsi.- Background :...
on 29 July. The vote was widely presumed to be rigged. King Constantine refused to accept the outcome. Randall J. Dicks, Governor of the Constantian Society of Ohio, USA, had a bitter view of Papadopoulos' credibility, "To no one's surprise, the mock plebiscite resulted in a 78.4 per cent vote in favour of a republic. There have been reports of irregularities at polling stations and blatant falsification of the final result ..." George Papadopoulos then declared himself president
President of Greece
The President of the Hellenic Republic , colloquially referred to in English as the President of Greece, is the head of state of Greece. The office of the President of the Republic was established after the Greek republic referendum, 1974 and formally by the Constitution of Greece in 1975. The...
, but in November there was a coup within the regime and he was replaced by General Phaidon Ghizikis, who was a front for the new military strongman, Dimitrios Ioannides
Dimitrios Ioannides
Dimitrios Ioannidis , also known as Dimitris Ioannidis, was a Greek military officer and one of the leading figures in the Greek military junta of 1967–1974.He was born in Athens to a wealthy, upper middle-class business family with roots in Epirus....
.
Restoration of democracy and the referendum
In July 1974, the events in CyprusTurkish invasion of Cyprus
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, launched on 20 July 1974, was a Turkish military invasion in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus...
led to the downfall of the military regime, and Karamanlis returned from exile to become prime minister. The 1973 republican constitution was regarded as illegitimate, and the new administration issued a constitutional decree restoring the 1952 constitution. Constantine confidently awaited an invitation to return. On 24 July he declared his, "deep satisfaction with the initiative of the armed forces in overthrowing the dictatorial regime" and welcomed the advent of Karamanlis as prime minister.
The former king visited both Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street and openly declared his hope to be shortly returning to Greece. Following Karamanlis' resounding victory in the November 1974 parliamentary elections (his New Democracy
New Democracy (Greece)
New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...
party won 54.4% of the vote), he called for a referendum (for 8 December 1974) on whether Greece would restore the monarchy or remain a republic.
Although he had been the leader of the traditionally monarchist right, Karamanlis made no effort to sway his constituency either way: instead he called on them to vote "according to their conscience".
The left voted overwhelmingly to keep the republic because the former king was perceived by them as having engaged in political interference far beyond the scope of the monarchical prerogative. They also objected to the undue influence that was exercised by members of the royal family who had no constitutional role in the political life of the country; the former king's mother, Queen Frederika, being a case in point.
The referendum also received overwhelming support by the centrist voters who condemned Constantine for, among other things, swearing in the junta in 1967. They also blamed his reluctance to sever all ties with the junta once in exile, and the dismissal of the legitimately-elected George Papandreou administration in 1965, the event which some believed led to the coup.
Given these circumstances, the former king was not allowed to return to Greece to campaign on behalf of restoring the monarchy. He was only allowed to broadcast to the Greek people from London on television.
Constantine freely admitted his past mistakes, claimed to have sound democratic intentions in the future and promised that his mother would stay away from the country. Local monarchists campaigned on his behalf. The vote to restore the monarchy was only about 31%, having most of his support from the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
region, with almost 69% of the electorate voting against the restoration of the monarchy and for the establishment of a republican parliamentary democracy. The result was met with massive celebrations in the streets of Athens and other major cities.
In exile
Constantine remained in exile after the vote in favour of the republic. It is difficult to imagine the circumstances in which he could make a comeback. He was strongly discouraged from returning to Greece, and he did not return until February 1981, when the government only allowed him to return for a few hours, to attend the funeral of his mother, Frederica of Hanover, in the family cemetery of the former Royal Palace at TatoiTatoi
Tatoi, located 5 km north of Athens's suburbs, and 27 km from the Athenian Acropolis was the summer palace and 10,000 acre estate of the former Greek Royal Family, and the site of George II of the Hellenes's birth...
.
There were also legal disputes with the Greek state, since Constantine was unwilling to pay taxes on his property in Greece while not being able to enjoy the benefit of their use. In the early 1990s, Constantine began appearing in the Greek media more often.
In 1992 he concluded an agreement with the conservative government of Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis
Constantine Mitsotakis
Constantine Mitsotakis , a Greek politician, was born in Chania, Crete. He came from a political family: his father and grandfathers were members of parliament, and the great liberal leader Eleftherios Venizelos was his uncle...
, ceding most of his land in Greece to a non-profit foundation in exchange for the former palace of Tatoi, near Athens, and the right to export a number of movables from Greece. The latter reportedly included privately owned art treasures from the royal palaces. As such no formal account of what was removed was ever given or needed to be given. In 1993, Constantine visited Greece, but faced with increasingly loud protests, the government asked him to leave.
In 1994, the second government of Andreas Papandreou
Andreas Papandreou
Andreas G. Papandreou ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics. The son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas was a Harvard-trained academic...
passed new legislation reversing the 1992 agreement and stripping Constantine of his property in Greece and his Greek citizenship. Constantine then sued Greece at the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
, claiming ownership of lands worth in excess of €550 million. He won, receiving a monetary compensation of €4 million for the lost property, with a far smaller sum awarded to his unmarried younger sister, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark is the youngest child of King Paul of Greece and his wife Frederika of Hanover. She is the younger sister of Queen Sofía of Spain and of deposed King Constantine II of Greece...
. The Greek government chose to pay out of the "extraordinary natural disasters" fund , but was not obliged by the court's decision to return any lands (the Court of Human Rights only awards monetary compensation).
Constantine, in turn, announced the creation of the Anna Maria Foundation, to allocate the funds in question back to the Greek people for use in "extraordinary natural disasters" and charitable causes. The court decision also ruled that Constantine's human rights were not violated by the Greek state's decision not to grant him Greek citizenship and passport until he acquires a surname, which Constantine refuses to take to date, citing the fact that his family has no surname. Additionally, he uses his royal title, citing international protocol.
The Greek Republican Constitution states that no titles of nobility are recognized by the Greek state for Greek citizens.
Later life
Following the abolition of the monarchy, Constantine has repeatedly stated that he recognises the Republic, the laws and the constitution of Greece. He told TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, "If the Greek people decide that they want a republic, they are entitled to have that and should be left in peace to enjoy it".
Until 1994, Constantine's official Greek passport identified him as "Constantine, former King of the Hellenes." A law passed in 1994 stripped him of his Greek citizenship, passport, and property. The law stated that Constantine could not be granted a Greek passport unless he adopted a surname. Constantine has since refused to comply. He continues to use the title "King Constantine," although he no longer uses "Constantine, King of the Hellenes".
He is also frequently referred to as Mr. Glücksburg; this reference to his family dates back to at least 1935 when Archimandrite
Archimandrite
The title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
Christoforos Ktenas referred to the late King Constantine I of Greece as "Ντίνος Γλυξβούργος" (Tino Glücksburg), in his book on Mount Athos. Glücksburg was mainly used by opponents of constitutional monarchy, and drew attention to the fact that the Greek royal family is not of Hellenic origin.
Today, this appellation is more widespread and also draws attention to the fact that Constantine's family lacks a legal surname in Greece. Constantine has stated: "I don't have a name - my family doesn't have a name. The law that Mr. Papandreou passed basically says that he considers that I am not Greek and that my family was Greek only so long as we were exercising the responsibilities of sovereign, and I had to go out and acquire a name. The problem is that my family originates from Denmark, and the Danish royal family haven't got a surname." Glücksburg, he said, was not a family name but the name of a town
Glücksburg
Glücksburg is a small town in the district Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.It is situated on the south side of the Flensburg Fjord, an inlet of the Baltic Sea, approx. 10 km northeast of Flensburg...
. "I might as well call myself Mr. Kensington."
In 2004, Constantine was back in Greece temporarily during the Athens Olympic Games as a member of the International Olympic Committee. He freely travels in and out of Greece on a Danish diplomatic passport, as Constantino de Grecia (Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for "Constantine of Greece"). This, because Denmark (upon request) issues diplomatic passports to any descendants of King Christian IX
Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906.Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish...
and Queen Louise
Louise of Hesse-Kassel
Louise of Hesse was a German Princess and the queen consort to King Christian IX of Denmark.-Early Life and Ancestry:...
. However, Constantine is a Prince of Denmark in his own right.
During his first visit to Greece using this passport, Constantine was mocked by some of the Greek media, which hellenized
Hellenization
Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of ancient Greek culture, and, to a lesser extent, language. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon...
the "de Grecia" designation and used it as a surname, thus naming him Κωνσταντίνος Ντεγκρέτσιας ("Constantine Degrecias"). Recently, Constantine has reportedly bought a sizeable piece of land on the Saronic
Saronic Gulf
The Saronic Gulf or Gulf of Aegina in Greece forms part of the Aegean Sea and defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Corinth. It is the eastern terminus of the Corinth Canal, which cuts across the isthmus.-Geography:The gulf includes the islands of; Aegina, Salamis, and Poros along with...
coast south of Athens.
Constantine and Anne-Marie
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece is the wife of former King Constantine II of Greece, who was deposed in referendums in 1973 and in 1974. Her title "Queen of Greece" is not recognized under the terms of the republican Constitution of Greece...
now live in the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
suburb of Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, where Constantine is a close friend of his second cousin Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
and a godfather to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, his second cousin once removed.
Constantine and Prince Charles are second cousins because their grandfathers (King Constantine I of Greece and Prince Andrew of Greece, father of the Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
) were brothers. Constantine is twice a third cousin of Elizabeth II, as both are great-great-grandchildren of King Christian IX
Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906.Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish...
(Elizabeth through her great-grandmother Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
, consort of Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
) as well as of Queen Victoria (Constantine through his grandmother Queen Sophia
Sophia of Prussia
Princess Sophie of Prussia was Queen of the Hellenes as the wife of King Constantine I.-Princess of Prussia:...
, daughter of Victoria, Princess Royal
Victoria, Princess Royal
The Princess Victoria, Princess Royal was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert. She was created Princess Royal of the United Kingdom in 1841. She became German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to German Emperor Frederick III...
). As with other exiled royalty living abroad, he is invited to royal functions under his former regnal name
Regnal name
A regnal name, or reign name, is a formal name used by some monarchs and popes during their reigns. Since medieval times, monarchs have frequently chosen to use a name different from their own personal name when they inherit a throne....
and title.
On 24 December 2004, Constantine and Anne-Marie and members of the royal family visited the Presidential Palace (the former Royal Palace) in Athens where Constantine met with President Costis Stephanopoulos
Costis Stephanopoulos
Konstantinos Stephanopoulos was the sixth President of the Third Hellenic Republic.Stephanopoulos was born in Patras. After attending the Saint Andrew school of Patras, he studied law at Athens University...
, who gave them a tour of the palace.
In 2008, during the Olympic Games in Beijing, Constantine II, in his role as honorary member of the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
, was the official presenter at the sailing medal ceremonies.
Constantine II is also Co-President of Honour of the International Sailing Federation
International Sailing Federation
The International Sailing Federation is recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the world governing body for the sport of sailing....
with King Harald V of Norway
Harald V of Norway
Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...
, since 1994.
Children
The children of Constantine and Anne-Marie are:- Princess Alexia of Greece and DenmarkPrincess Alexia of Greece and DenmarkPrincess Alexia of Greece and Denmark , born 10 July 1965, is the elder daughter and eldest child of former King Constantine II of Greece and former Queen Anna-Marie .-Early life:Princess Alexia was born at Mon Repos, Corfu, Ionian Islands,...
, born on 10 July 1965 at Mon Repos, CorfuMon Repos, CorfuMon Repos is a villa on the island of Corfu, Greece. It lies south of Corfu City in the forest of Palaiopolis.The villa was built as a summer residence for the English Commissioner Thomas Maitland, and his Greek spouse, Corfiot Nina Palatianou, in 1828-1831, although they had to vacate the villa...
, GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. She was married on 9 July 1999 in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Carlos Morales QuintanaCarlos Morales QuintanaCarlos Morales Quintana is a Spanish architect and yachtsman. He is the husband of Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark, a member of the Greek Royal Family....
. - Crown Prince Pavlos of GreecePavlos, Crown Prince of GreecePavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, is the eldest son and heir apparent of Constantine II, who was King of Greece from 1964 to 1973....
, Prince of DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, born on 20 May 1967 at Tatoi Palace. He was married on 1 July 1995 in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Marie-Chantal MillerMarie-Chantal, Crown Princess of GreeceMarie-Chantal Claire, Crown Princess of Greece, Princess of Denmark , is a member of the Greek Royal Family through her marriage to Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece...
, who has been styled thereafter as The Crown Princess Pavlos of Greece, Princess of Denmark. - Prince Nikolaos of Greece and DenmarkPrince Nikolaos of Greece and DenmarkPrince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark is the second son and third child of King Constantine II of Greece and Anne-Marie of Denmark, the youngest daughter of King Frederick IX of Denmark and sister of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark....
, born on 1 October 1969 in RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. He was married on 25 August 2010 in Spetses to Tatiana Elinka Blatnik, who has been styled thereafter as HRH Princess Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark. - Princess Theodora of Greece and DenmarkPrincess Theodora of Greece and DenmarkPrincess Theodora of Greece and Denmark is the younger daughter and fourth child of former King Constantine II of Greece and Anne-Marie of Denmark. She was born 10 years after her father was deposed and 9 years after the monarchy was officially abolished in Greece.-Family:Her paternal grandparents...
, born on 9 June 1983 in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... - Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark, born on 26 April 1986 in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Ancestry
Titles
- His Royal Highness Prince Constantine of Greece and Denmark (1940–1947)
- His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Greece, Duke of Sparta (1947–1964)
- His Majesty The King of the Hellenes (1964–1973)
- His Majesty The King of the Hellenes (pretenderPretenderA pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
, 1973–present)- His Majesty King Constantine II of Greece, Prince of Denmark (used outside of Greece, 1973–present)
- His Majesty King Constantine (used within the International Olympic CommitteeInternational Olympic CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
)
In Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, he is referred to as ο τέως βασιλιάς ("the former king") or with the pejorative terms ο Τέως ("the Ex") or o Γλύξμπουργκ ("Glücksburg"). He is referred to as ο βασιλιάς ("the king") by Greek monarchists.
As a male-line descendant of Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906.Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish...
he retains his title as Prince of Denmark
Danish Royal Family
The Danish Royal Family includes the Queen of Denmark and her family. All members except the Queen hold the title of Prince/Princess of Denmark with the style of His/Her Royal Highness or His/Her Highness. The Queen is styled Her Majesty. The Queen and her siblings belong to the House of...
, although constitutional changes removed the Greek cadet branch
Cadet branch
Cadet branch is a term in genealogy to describe the lineage of the descendants of the younger sons of a monarch or patriarch. In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets – titles, realms, fiefs, property and income – have...
from the line of Danish succession.
Honours
- Order of St. George and St. Constantine, Knight Grand Cross with Collar
- Order of the RedeemerOrder of the RedeemerThe Order of the Redeemer , also known as the Order of the Savior, is an order of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state.- History :...
, Knight Grand Cross - Order of George IOrder of George IThe Royal Order of George I is a defunct order of Greece.- History :The order was founded in 1915 by King Constantine I in honor of his father, George I. It was only the second Greek order to be created after the Order of the Redeemer in 1833, and remained the second senior award of the Greek...
, Knight Grand Cross - Order of the Phoenix, Knight Grand Cross
- Order of Beneficence, Knight Grand Cross
Foreign honours
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!width = "35%" style="text-align:left"|Award or order
!width = "32%" style="text-align:left"|Class or position
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Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
|Order of St Olav
|Grand Cross & Grand Cross with Collar
|
|1962–present
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Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
|Order of the Elephant
Order of the Elephant
The Order of the Elephant is the highest order of Denmark. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional monarchy in 1849, is now almost exclusively bestowed on royalty and heads of state.- History :A Danish religious...
|Knight with Collar
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|1962–present
|-
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Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
|Order of the Dannebrog
Order of the Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons...
|Grand Commander
|
|1962–present
|-
|
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
|Order of the Golden Fleece
Order of the Golden Fleece
The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...
|Knight
|
|1964–present
|-
|
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
|Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George is a Roman Catholic order of chivalry. It was fictively established by Constantine the Great, though in reality it was founded between 1520 and 1545 by two brothers of the Angeli Comneni family. Members of the Angeli Comneni family remained...
|Knight Grand Cross of Justice
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|2008–present
|}
Other honours
- ISAFInternational Sailing FederationThe International Sailing Federation is recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the world governing body for the sport of sailing....
Beppe Croce Trophy (2010) - The Greek Royal Orders
See also
- Timeline of Greek history
- History of Modern GreeceHistory of modern GreeceThe history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832 after the Greek War of Independence to the present day.- Background :In 1821, the Greeks rose up against the Ottoman Empire...
- List of Olympic medalists in Dragon class sailing
External links
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