Constantine II (
Greek:
Κωνσταντίνος Βʹ, Βασιλεύς των Ελλήνων,
Konstantínos Βʹ, Vasiléfs ton Ellínon; born 2 June 1940) was
King of the Hellenes from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973.
The sixth and last monarch of the
House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, he is usually referred to in
Greece as
ο τέως βασιλιάς ("the former king"), or with the pejorative terms
ο Τέως ("the Former") or
o Γκλύξμπουργκ ("the Glücksburg").
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.
He succeeded his father
Paul in March 1964, being styled
Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (
Greek:
Κωνσταντῖνος Βʹ, Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων). 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 swear-in 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 has never officially
abdicated his throne. He has continued to live abroad since 1967, but enters and leaves his native country freely and has a house on the coastal resort of
Saronida, outside
Athens.
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.
[12] He was not stripped of his property or citizenship after the referendum,
[citation needed] but 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, 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.
[citation needed] In the early 1990s, Constantine began appearing in the Greek media more often, while 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.
[citation needed] As such no formal account of what was removed was ever given or needed to be given. In 1993, Constantine visited Greece, but the government became irritated
[citation needed] by his "tour" around the country. Greek air force planes harassed Constantine and his party openly.
[citation needed] 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
[13] 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. *Wikipedia*
http://www.formerkingofgreece.org/index.cfm
