Recently he was hospitalized in a serious condition – His life and journey – When was he crowned king and since when did he live in self-exile
The former King Constantine breathed his last at the age of 82 on Tuesday, who had recently been hospitalized after suffering a stroke.
The former King Constantine was born on June 2, 1940 in the Palace of Old Psychikos. His parents were Prince Paul of Greece, brother and heir of King George II of Greece, and Princess Frederica of Greece, Hanover, Great Britain and Ireland. On the day of his birth, 101 cannons were fired from Lycabettus Hill, as was customary to announce that the new prince was a boy.
He was baptized in Athens under the patronage of the Armed Forces. He had two sisters, Sophia and Irene. Sofia was Queen of Spain from 1975 until the abdication of her husband King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 2014 and the ascension of her son Philip VI to the Spanish throne.
His family followed the royal family, which on the eve of the Nazi advance on Athens, together with the government and the leadership of the country’s Armed Forces, fled to Egypt through Crete, where they formed the so-called “Government of Egypt” and they were put in charge of Greek battalions fighting in Africa against the Axis. He later resided in South Africa. They returned to Greece in 1946 with the restoration of the monarchy and the return of King George II.
A year later, in 1947, after the sudden death of George II, his father ascended the throne and Constantine was named heir. In 1955 he was awarded the title of Duke of Sparta.
His life and action
Born on June 2, 1940 in Athens, Konstantinos Glixburg was proclaimed King of Greece on March 6, 1964, at the age of 24, succeeding his father, Paul I, after his death on the same day.
In September of the same year, he married the then Princess of Denmark, Anna Maria, with whom he had three sons and two daughters.
He was the son of King Paul I of the House of Glücksburg and Queen Frederick-Louise of Hanover, brother of the later (and now former) Queen of Spain Sofia and Princess Irene.
In 1941, his family fled to Crete and then to Egypt. During the war they lived for long periods in Cape Town, South Africa.
In 1946, after the liberation the royal family returned to the country.
On 1 April 1947, his father assumed the royal office, following the death of George II, and he himself was declared heir to the throne. He learned his first letters at the elementary school that operated inside the Psychiko palace. He completed his high school studies at the Anavryta National School and continued at the Evelpidon School.
On June 28, 1958, he was commissioned an officer in all three arms. He was actively involved in scouting and in 1959, he was named chief scout. In 1960, he became an Olympic gold medalist in Rome, in the sailing event.
On March 6, 1964, the day after his father’s death, he was proclaimed king at the age of 24. On September 18 of the same year, he married Princess Anna Maria of Denmark, third daughter of King Frederick IX of Denmark. From his marriage he had five children: Alexia, Pavlos, Nikolaos, Theodora and Philippos.
On July 15, 1965, he brought down the government of George Papandreou, challenging the prime minister’s right to personally take over the Ministry of National Defense. He then appointed the short-lived governments of Georgiou Athanasiadis-Nova (July 15) and Ilias Tsirimokou (August 20), which did not receive a vote of confidence. On September 17, he appointed a new government under Stefanos Stephanopoulos, which remained in power for about 15 months.
On December 22, 1966, he appointed the caretaker government of Ioannis Paraskevopoulos which received a vote of confidence from the Parliament and on April 3, 1967, he appointed Panagiotis Kanellopoulos as prime minister in order to hold elections. A few days later, despite being opposed to the coup group that seized power on April 21, he nominated Konstantinos Kollias for the position of prime minister and signed the appointment of the government under him.
On December 13, he organized an anti-dictatorship movement that failed. He fled with his family to Rome and then settled in London.
On June 1, 1973, the dictatorial regime announced the abolition of the monarchy and on July 29 held a “referendum” to confirm this decision.
In 1974, after the fall of the colonels and the restoration of democracy, the referendum of December 8 was held for the state, in which Constantine II was declared definitively deposed, with a vote rate of 69.18% in favor of the presided over Republic.
After his sale, he claimed real estate (Tatoi estate and palace, Mon Repos Corfu estate and palace and Polydendriou forest estate in Larissa) and appealed to the European Court of Justice. Finally, the decision issued in November 2002 awarded him compensation of 13.7 million euros.
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
I have worked as a journalist for over 10 years, and my work has been featured on many different news websites. I am also an author, and my work has been published in several books. I specialize in opinion writing, and I often write about current events and controversial topics. I am a very well-rounded writer, and I have a lot of experience in different areas of journalism. I am a very hard worker, and I am always willing to put in the extra effort to get the job done.
