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Constantine of Greece, formerly Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (born June 2, 1940) was King of Greece from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy by the Greek military junta on June 1, 1973.

During the Metapolitefsi, the transitional period following the fall of the Junta, the matter of his restoration to the throne was set on the Greek plebiscite, 1974 (December 13, 1974) and the results confirmed his deposition. The plebiscite was held while the King was in London; though he was allowed to, he did not enter Greece to campaign. He never announced his abdication. However, unable to overthrow the government by royal edict, as in 1965, he never openly questioned the outcome and asked his supporters to respect the outcome (over two thirds of the electorate voted for the abolition of the monarchy).

Upon ascending the throne, he was styled (Konstantinos II, Vasileus ton Ellinon). He has lived in exile since 1967. Also called by supporters as King Konstantinos XIII , extending the line succession of the Byzantine empire, from the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI.

Constantine was born at Psychiko, near Athens, the nephew of King George II and eldest son of the king's brother and heir, Crown Prince Paul. His mother was Crown Princess Frederika, the former Princess Frederika of Hanover. He was one year old when the Germans invaded Greece and he spent the next four years in exile in Egypt and Cape Town with his family. He returning to Greece in 1945. King George died tragically in 1947 and his brother became King Paul, making Constantine heir to the throne. 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 services, attending the requisite military academies. He also attended the NATO Air Force Special Weapons School in Germany. Constantine also attended Athens University where he undertook courses at the Law School.

As a young man Crown Prince Constantine had an interest in sports. 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 had a Black Belt in karate with interests in squash, track events and riding. In 1964 in a Greek Orthodox ceremony in Athens, he married Danish Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, sister of the current Danish Queen, Margrethe II. His sister, Queen Sofia, is married to King Juan Carlos of Spain. He has another younger sister, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark.

In 1964, shortly before Constantine's marriage, King Paul died of cancer and Constantine succeeded him to the throne as King Constantine II. King Constantine was seen as young and inexperienced by some as well as being under the influence of his mother.

Greece at this time was strongly polarised between the monarchist former long-serving Prime Minister, Constantine Karamanlis, and the republican centre, presumed heirs to the legacy of the former leader Eleftherios Venizelos, led at this time by George Papandreou, who became Prime Minister in February, 1964 (Papandreou was already an interim prime minister after the legislative elections of 1963). Some politicians had a low opinion of Constantine. King Paul's former Prime Minister Karamanlis described him as "Paul's naughty little boy" and regarded him partly responsible for his resignation in 1963.

Relations between the king and the left-wing Prime Minister Papandreou ostensibly began with goodwill on both sides, although Papandreou had always been a republican. However, they soon turned hostile, the trigger being a letter the king sent to the prime minister following the "Aspida scandal" that shook the Army but later proved to be baseless. The name of Papandreou's son, Andreas, was involved in the case and the defence minister, Petros Garoufalias was obliged by the prime minister to resign when he tried to form a committee of inquiry into the alleged scandal. Papandreou decided to assign the Defense portfolio to himself and, when Constantine II refused to accept the appointment, a new political issue resulted.

Constantine proposed the appointment of any other person of the Prime Minister's choosing as defense minister because, as the king argued, there was a conflict of interest since 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 resignation, stating that it was well within his constitutional powers as elected Prime Minister commanding a parliamentary majority to appoint his ministers at his pleasure and beyond the constitutional powers of the king to refuse him this right. Within 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, also known as The Royal coup (Greek: Το Βασιλικό Πραξικόπημα), evoked many critics against Constantine, as being unconstitutional.

According to those criticising him, Constantine, by appointing a new government comprising of aisle-crossers and not proclaiming new elections, caused a constitutional crisis and political instability that lasted for more than two years and led to the period of the dictatorship of 1967-1974.

Constantine first appointed the Speaker of Parliament, Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas, as Prime Minister. He was succeeded by Ilias Tsirimokos, who also failed to form a stable government, and was dismissed. He next appointed some of Papandreou's dissidents, known as the July Apostates and led by Stephanos Stephanopoulos, to form a government of "king's men," which lasted until December 1966, amid mounting strikes and protests, supported by the right-wing National Radical Union. When Stephanopoulos 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 April 3, 1967, by another caretaker government under Panagiotis Kanellopoulos.

Elections were scheduled for 28 May 1967 with expectations of a wide Centrist victory. According to US diplomat John Day, the Americans worried that due to the old age of George Papandreou, Andreas Papandreou would have a very powerful role in the next government. According to Robert Keely and John Owens, American diplomats attached to the US Embassy in Greece at the time, Constantine asked US Ambassador Phillip Talbot what would be the attitude of the US government to an extra-parliamentary solution to this problem. To this the embassy responded negatively in principle, adding however that "US reaction to such move cannot be determined in advance but would depend on circumstances at time". To this day, Constantine denies all this.

According to then US Ambassador 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, traditionalist, right-wing nationalist group of junior Army officers led by Colonel George Papadopoulos took action first and staged a coup d'état on April 21. 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, Constantine Kollias, as Prime Minister. Constantine always maintained that his brief co-operation with the coup was a tactical move that he hoped would allow him to organize a counter-coup. He later claimed that he meant to broadcast his dissatisfaction with the regime to the Greek people by assuming a somber facial expression for the offical swearing-in photograph (see picture, left).

From the outset, the relationship between Constantine and the notorious regime of the Colonels was an uneasy one. The colonels were not willing to share power with anyone, whereas the young king, like his father before him, was used to playing an active role in politics and would never consent to being a mere figurehead, especially in a military administration. Although the colonels' strong anti-communist, pro-NATO and pro-Western views appealed to the United States, fearful of domestic and international public opinion, President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson told Constantine, in a visit to Washington, D.C. in early autumn of 1967, that it would be best to replace that government with another one. Constantine took that as an encouragement to organise a counter-coup and it was probably meant as one, although no help or involvement of the US was forthcoming.

The king finally decided to launch his counter-coup on December 13, 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. Instead of attempting to drum up the widest popular support, hoping for spontaneous pro-democracy risings in most towns, the king preferred to let his Generals put together the necessary force for advancing on Thessaloniki in strict compliance with military bureaucracy . The king made no attempt to contact politicians, even local ones, and even took care to include in his proclamation a paragraph condemning communism, lest anyone should get the wrong idea.

In the circumstances, rather than the king 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. The junta, not at all shaken by the loss of their figurehead premier, ridiculed the king by announcing the he was hiding "from village to village". Realising that the counter coup 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. Constantine 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 (June 1), a decision which was confirmed by the Greek plebiscite, 1973 on July 29. 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.

In July 1974, events 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 King visited both Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street and openly declared his hope to be shortly returning to Greece. This was not to be allowed by Karamanlis. He did not fully restore the constitution as he had decided to freeze the articles defining Greece as a constitutional monarchy, and decided to defer the question for settlement by referendum later that year. The term 'President' was inserted in the place of 'King' in the wording of the revived constitution. Following Karamanlis' resounding victory in the November 1974 parliamentary elections (his party New Democracy party won 54.4% of the vote), he called for a referendum (for December 6, 1974) on whether Greece would be a monarchy or 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 abolish the monarchy because the king was perceived by them as engaging in political interference far beyond the scope of the monarchical prerogative. They also objected to the undue influence exercised by members of the royal family who had no constitutional role in the political life of the country; the 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 King was not allowed to return to Greece to campaign on behalf of 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. On-the-ground campaining on his behalf was carried out by local monarchists. The vote to retain the monarchy was only about 30 percent, with almost 70% of the electorate voting for the permanent abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a presidential parliamentary democracy. The result was met with massive celebrations in the streets of Athens and other major cities.

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 not stripped of his property or citizenship after the referendum, but he was strongly discouraged from returning to Greece, and did not return until February 1981, and then the government only allowed him to return for a few hours, to attend the funeral of his mother, Queen Frederika, in the family cemetery of the former royal palace at Tatoi. 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, whilst facing the continuing hostility of the socialist government of Andreas Papandreou. 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.

In 1993 Constantine visited Greece, but the government became irritated by his "tour" around the country. 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, Irene. The Greek government chose to pay the monies (out of the "extraordinary natural disasters" fund, as a means of making a public statement), but was not obliged by the court decision to return any lands (the Human Rights Court 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.

Following the abolition of the monarchy, Constantine has repeatedly stated that he recognises the republic, the laws and the constitution of Greece. He told Time magazine "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. Constantine continues to use the title "King Constantine," although he no longer uses "Constantine, King of the Hellenes".

Constantine is occasionally openly mocked in the Greek press for calling himself King Constantine. Several nicknames have been popular both with the press and some parts of Greek society. These include "o Teos" ("the former") which is, in fact, applied as a qualitative for any former official, and the derogatory nickname "Kokos" which evokes the Greek word "κοκορόμυαλος" ("feather-brained") or possibly Constantine's childhood name ("Kokos" is Greek baby talk for the name Constantine and "koko" is similar baby talk for "glyko", dessert). He is sometimes referred to ironically as "Constantine the Little", in contrast with the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. 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 then exiled King Constantine I of Greece as, "Ντίνος Γλυξβούργος" (Tino Glucksburg), in his book on Mount Athos. Glücksburg was mainly used by opponents of constitutional monarchy, and drew attention to the fact that the royal family was not of ethnic Greek 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." The Greek state has acknowledged that the family has not had a surname so far and has suggested that Constantine choose any surname he likes.

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 an Italian diplomatic passport, as "Constantino de Grecia" (Italian for "Constantine of Greece"). At his first visit to Greece using this passport Constantine was mocked by most of the Greek media. They 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 and plans to establish some sort of permanent residence there. The purchase has sparked off unsubstantiated rumours that Constantine will also establish a new political party upon his return to Greece as a citizen. There is no evidence to support such a statement.

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, his second cousin once removed. Constantine and Prince Charles are related by virtue of the fact that they each have a grandfather (King Constantine I of Greece and Prince Andrew of Greece, father of the Duke of Edinburgh) who were brothers. There is another family connection with the British Royal Family, through Queen Alexandra (consort of Edward VII) who was a Danish princess. As with other exiled royalty living abroad, he is invited to Royal functions under his former regnal name and title. Since he does not represent any country — including Greece — he is not invited to official functions held by the British government (official invitations are only extended to heads of state and recognised government representatives).

On 24 December 2004 Constantine and Anne-Marie and members of the royal family visited the Presidential Palace (and former royal palace) in Athens where Constantine met with President Costis Stephanopoulos, who gave them a tour of the Palace. The children and grandchildren of Constantine and Anne-Marie are:

*Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark, born on 10 July 1965 at Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece. She was married on 9 July 1999 in London to Carlos Morales Quintana. **Their children: ***Arrietta Morales y de Grecia, born on 24 February 2002 in Barcelona. ***Ana-Maria Morales y de Grecia, born on 15 May 2003 in Barcelona. ***Carlos Morales y de Grecia, born on 30 July 2005 in Barcelona. *** ? Morales y de Grecia, born on ?? November 2007 in ?. *Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, Prince of Denmark, born on May 20 1967 at Tatoi Palace. He was married on July 1 1995 in London to Marie-Chantal Miller, who has been styled thereafter as The Crown Princess Pavlos of Greece, Princess of Denmark. **Their children: ***Maria-Olympia, Princess of Greece and Denmark, born on July 25 1996 in New York City ***Constantine Alexios, Prince of Greece and Denmark, born on October 29 1998 in New York City ***Achileas-Andreas, Prince of Greece and Denmark, born on August 12 2000 in New York City ***Odysseas-Kimon, Prince of Greece and Denmark, born on September 17, 2004 in London. *Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark, born on October 1 1969 in Rome *Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, born on June 9 1983 in London *Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark, born on April 26 1986 in London

* His Royal Highness Prince Constantine of Greece and Denmark (1940-1947) * His Royal Highness Crown Prince Constantine of Greece, Prince of Denmark (1947-1964) * His Majesty Constantine II, King of the Hellenes, Prince of Denmark (1964-1974) * His Majesty King Constantine of Greece, Prince of Denmark (since 1974) * King Constantine (Used by Constantine in Greece since 2003)

* The constitution of the Hellenic Republic * Apostasia of 1965 * Politics of Greece * Parliamentary democracy * Greek military junta of 1967-1974 * Timeline of Greek history * History of Modern Greece

* * * *ΜΑΡΙΟΣ ΠΛΩΡΙΤΗΣ:Απάντηση στον Γκλύξμπουργκ, Εφημερίδα Το ΒΗΜΑ, Κυριακή 10 Ιουνίου 2001 - Αρ. Φύλλου 13283 *ΜΑΡΙΟΣ ΠΛΩΡΙΤΗΣ:Δευτερολογία για τον Γκλύξμπουργκ, Εφημερίδα Το ΒΗΜΑ, Κυριακή 24 Ιουνίου 2001 - Αρ. Φύλλου 13295 *ΣΤΑΥΡΟΣ Π. ΨΥΧΑΡΗΣ: H ΣΥΝΤΑΓΗ ΤΗΣ ΚΡΙΣΗΣ, Εφημερίδα Το ΒΗΜΑ, 17/10/2004 - Κωδικός άρθρου: B14292A011 ID: 265758 *Official website of the former royal family * * * "Throneless abroad: The men who would be king", TIME magazine (Jun. 3, 2002/Vol. 159 No. 22) * Archmandrite Chrostoforou Ktena. "Apanda ta en Agio Orei iera kathidrymata eis 726...", Athens 1935. Source quoted in, R. M. Dawkins, "A new book on the Administration of Athos, The Link - a review of Mediaeval and Modern Greek, No.1, June 1938, edited by Nicholas Bachtin * "King Without A Country," Vanity Fair (July 1995)

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