Constantine II, the ultimate king of Greece, who rose to the throne in 1964 as a younger monarch celebrated for an Olympic gold medal in sailing, however whose reign efficiently ended 3 years later while he fled into exile after clashing with a army junta, died Jan. 10 at a medical institution in Athens. He turned into 82.
A announcement through Hygeia Hospital stated the previous king suffered a stroke and headaches from different fitness problems.
He turned into the ultimate ruler in a 19th-century own circle of relatives dynasty whose connections to Greece have been tenuous however that sought to attract legitimacy from connections to the broader own circle of relatives tree of European royalty.
He lived for many years in London and turned into a cousin of King Charles III, a godfather to Prince William and a part of the prolonged own circle of relatives line of Greece-born Prince Philip. The former king traveled as Constantine de Grecia below a Danish passport due to his own circle of relatives’s shared lineage with a department of Denmark’s royal own circle of relatives — similarly to his marriage to a former Danish princess, Ann-Marie. His sister Sophia is the spouse of the previous Spanish king Juan Carlos.
But for Greeks, he remained deeply woven into the records of the 1967-1974 right-wing dictatorship, whose ruthless suppression of competition nevertheless resonates as uncomfortable recollections withinside the us of a’s political and cultural existence.
Events commenced to spread in 1965 while the younger king feuded with Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou, main to the crumble of his authorities. The political disaster — nevertheless acknowledged in Greece because the “Apostasy” — commenced a length of upheavals and caretaker governments.
“The human beings don’t need you, take your mom and go!” protesters shouted in 1965 in denunciations of the king and his mom, Queen Frederica.
The ongoing political unrest turned into utilized by a clique of Greek army officials as justification to take manage of the us of a in April 1967. The “colonels,” as they have been acknowledged, additionally feared that the king turned into making plans preemptive actions to put in his backers in power.
Backed right into a corner, he agreed to formally inaugurate the junta as Greece’s new leaders. The king and his own circle of relatives then relocated to northern Greece, searching for to steer a countercoup. The plans fell aside and the own circle of relatives fled to Rome and later settled in London.
“It turned into the worst day of my existence,” he stated in describing the departure from Greece in a 2015 memoir launched through the Greek newspaper To Vima. “That day, I noticed my first white hair.”
Some officials withinside the Greek military remained dependable to him and, in 1973, made every other try at a riot towards the junta. The army rulers abolished the monarchy — whilst he persisted to assert he turned into Greece’s rightful monarch.
Junta chief George Papadopoulos categorized the previous king “a collaborator with overseas forces and with murderers.”
After the dictatorship collapsed in 1974 — following a army disaster with Turkey over Greek tries to unite with the island kingdom of Cyprus — he sought to make a dramatic go back. He turned into suggested to attend through political leaders, who have been involved he could disenchanted efforts to repair democracy. Instead, a referendum turned into hung on whether or not to deliver returned the monarchy.
On the eve of the vote, the previous king appeared confident. The outcome “will locate my own circle of relatives and me returned home,” he stated from London. Yet almost 70 percentage of the votes forged have been towards reestablishing the royal own circle of relatives. The top minister, Constantine Karamanlis, turned into quoted as announcing that the electorate had rid the kingdom of a cancerous growth.
The former king did now no longer go back to Greece till 1981, after being given clearance for a 5-hour go to to bury his mom withinside the own circle of relatives cemetery of the previous royal palace at Tatoi, north of Athens. (The Greek authorities introduced that the previous king’s stays could additionally be interred there.)
From London, the previous king used his royal identify and claimed possession of own circle of relatives land in Greece, which include Tatoi. In 1994, the Greek authorities officially stripped him of his citizenship and confiscated the royal property.
A lawsuit he filed withinside the European Court of Human Rights ended in a 12 million euro award — a long way much less than the five hundred million euros he sought. In 1995, he boasted to Vanity Fair that he acquired 65,000 letters a yr from Greek residents and wanted a four-man or woman group of workers to assist manage his affairs.
His existence in exile turned into a long way from a bumpy ride. He hobnobbed with different participants of European royalty, who regularly referred to as him “Your Majesty.” He and his spouse lived in a manse in London’s tony Hampstead Garden Suburb. If the British royals threw a gala, he turned into at the visitor list.
When Athens hosted the Olympics in 2004, he lower back as an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee. The appearance, however, turned into deliberately subdued on the request of organizers notwithstanding his stature as a beyond Olympic medal winner.
At the 1960 Rome Games, the then crown prince turned into a part of the gold medal-prevailing crew in 3-man or woman Dragon Class sailing. He additionally turned into the flag-bearer on the Rome Opening Ceremonies, and a Greek postage stamp turned into made in honor of his crew’s victory.
In an interview with NBC’s “Today” in the course of the Athens Olympics, the previous king referred to as Greece “his us of a.”
“I don’t forget I had the privilege of conserving the flag while our crew got here in,” he stated, recounting the Rome Games, “and the roar of the gang turned into some thing this is nevertheless in my ears.”
For greater than a decade, he spent growing time in Greece as government made lodges and as protests over his presence in large part faded. He additionally made a few moderate concessions. He belatedly diagnosed that the age of the monarchy in Greece turned into lengthy over.
His legit internet site indexed him as King Constantine, former King of the Hellenes.
Wartime exile
The destiny king turned into born on June 2, 1940, in Athens to Princess Frederica of Hanover and Prince Paul, the more youthful brother of Greece’s King George II and inheritor to the throne.
Before Prince Constantine’s first birthday, the own circle of relatives fled for Alexandria, Egypt, as Nazi forces occupied a good deal of the us of a. The own circle of relatives later frolicked in South Africa earlier than returning to Greece in 1946 — simply because the us of a turned into entering into a disastrous civil battle among communist-sponsored forces and nationalists, many dependable to the monarchy.
The nationalist facet won, however political rifts remained robust for many years and spilled over into divided perspectives at the monarchy — which a few critics decried as outsiders with own circle of relatives hyperlinks to wartime foe Germany.
The prince turned into knowledgeable at boarding faculties and army academies in education for the throne. His flip got here in 1964, while turned into he turned into 23, after the loss of life of his father, King Paul. (The own circle of relatives had dominated Greece considering 1863 besides for 1924 to 1935).
The very last king of Greece is survived through Anne-Marie, his spouse of fifty eight years; 5 children, Alexia, Pavlos, Nikolaos, Theodora and Philippos; and 9 grandchildren.
His lineage tracks returned to the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, which incorporates Denmark and different countries. He refused to undertake any of these names, however, after the Greek authorities stated he should have his passport restored most effective if he followed a surname.
“I don’t have a call,” he stated in 1995 in London. “My own circle of relatives doesn’t have a call.”
Glücksburg is the call of a place, he noted, like several London borough.
“I might also additionally as nicely name myself Mr. Kensington,” he stated.