The Centre Union ( Greek : Ένωσις Κέντρου (EK) , romanized : Énosis Kéntrou, ΕΚ ) was a major centrist political party in Greece , created in 1961 by Georgios Papandreou .
127-476: The Centre Union was a political party in Greece in the 1960s which held office from 1963 to 1965 and was nominally in power from 1965 to 1967. The party was centrist, though elements of the far-right and the left also joined. The party fractured following its leader Georgios Papandreou's resignation after a disagreement with King Constantine II who clashed with Papandreou on how to handle the armed forces. Papandreou
254-631: A Greek Orthodox ceremony in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. Anne-Marie was the youngest daughter of King Frederik IX , and she and Constantine were third cousins. Constantine succeeded to the throne at a time when Greek society was experiencing economic and employment growth, but also political crises and violent social protests. Political instability worsened in 1965. At a meeting with Papandreou that took place on 11 July 1965 in Korfu , Constantine requested that those implicated in
381-410: A coup d'état on 21 April using the fear of "communist danger" as the main reason for the coup. Tanks rolled through the streets of Athens, rifle shots were heard and military songs were played on the radio until the announcement that "The Hellenic Armed Forces have undertaken the governance of the country" was made public. Some high-ranking politicians were arrested, as well as the commander-in-chief of
508-529: A referendum on 1 September 1946 with the aim of allowing George to return to the throne. The majority in the referendum was in favour of reinstating the monarchy, at which time Constantine and his family also returned to Greece. In a country still suffering from rationing and deprivation, they moved back to the villa in Psychikó. It was there that Paul and Frederica chose to start a small school, where Constantine and his sisters received their first education under
635-540: A British Short Sunderland flying boat along with most of the Greek royal family. The next day, they were followed by King George II and Prince Paul. However the imminent German invasion of Crete quickly made the situation untenable and Constantine and his family were evacuated from Crete to Egypt on 30 April 1941, a fortnight before the German attack on the island. In Alexandria , the exiled Greek royals were welcomed by
762-651: A breakaway group from the Greek Rally , and the Party of the Nationally Minded (Komma Ethnikiphronon). Smaller, less influential figures were brought into the fold, namely Stylianos Allamanis and Pafsanias Katsotas . All constituent parts recognised the sole leadership of Georgios Papandreou. Upon receiving the leadership of the Centre Union, Georgios Papandreou declared his immediate objective to be
889-485: A change in government, while Karamanlis, communicating from a temporary self-imposed exile in Paris, conveyed his strong desire for Pipinelis to remain in office for the time being. On 26 September, Prime Minister Pipinelis was summoned by King Paul, who handed him the royal decree dissolving Parliament and ordering elections for 3 November. The following day, Pipinelis was replaced by Stelio Mavromichales so as not to agitate
1016-560: A close friend of the exiled Greeks. From early 1944, the family again took up residence in Egypt. In January 1944, Frederica was reunited with Paul in Cairo , and their children joined them in March of that year. Despite their difficult financial circumstances, the family then established friendly relations with several Egyptian personalities, including Queen Farida , whose daughters were roughly
1143-587: A few hours later, landed in Thessaloniki, before boarding a yacht. The family's yacht then travelled 300 metres off the shore of Mount Athos . Constantine and his two eldest sons, Crown Prince Pavlos and Prince Nikolaos , travelled upon a dingy to get to the mainland, where women were unallowed to visit. Upon arriving, Constantine noticed his portrait in every monastery and learnt that the monks there had been praying for him every day since his exile. Nine monks followed Constantine back to their yacht to bless
1270-677: A few months, the Greek Navy gave the prince a Dragon class sailing boat , with which he decided to participate in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. At the opening of the Games in Rome, he was the flag bearer for the Greek team. He won an Olympic gold medal in Sailing (Dragon class), which was the first Greek gold medal since the Stockholm 1912 Summer Olympics . Constantine was the helmsman of
1397-500: A followed referendum on the monarchy. Constantine's close confidant, Michail Arnaoutis, approached high-ranking officers to try to gain their support. After some naval officers approached expressed doubts that Arnaoutis spoke for the former king, the chief engineer of the fleet was invited to London, where Constantine confirmed the basic outline of the plot as relayed by Arnaoutis. The naval officers approached informed Karamanlis, who sent Papagos to warn Constantine to "stop conspiring" and
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#17327982230341524-420: A government. He then ordered Ilias Tsirimokos to form a government on 18 August but he did not receive the vote of confidence of the parliament on a vote on 28 August either. Constantine finally ordered Stefanopoulos to form a government and obtained the parliamentary confidence on 17 December 1965. An end to the crisis seemed in sight when on 20 December 1966, Papandreou, ERE leader Panagiotis Kanellopoulos and
1651-634: A name. The problem is that my family originates from Denmark and the Danish royal family haven't got a surname." Following the abolition of the monarchy, Constantine repeatedly stated that he recognised the republic, the laws and the constitution of Greece. He told Time , "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." Constantine and Anne-Marie for many years lived in Hampstead Garden Suburb , London. Constantine
1778-561: A personal intervention by British prime minister James Callaghan , who warned Constantine off. The Greek government repeatedly sent envoys to the former king for the same purpose, but he denied any knowledge of the affair. Karamanlis chose not to publicise it in order to not destabilise the fragile democratic system in Greece. Nevertheless, in October 1978, Constantine and Arnaoutis were recorded by Greek agents to have sought contact with military and political leaders, trying to win them over to
1905-448: A political leader". The referendum of 29 July confirmed the end of the Greek monarchy and the end of the reign of Constantine. That year, the junta expropriated the palace of Tatoi and offered the king 120 million drachmas, money that Constantine refused. The Turkish invasion of Cyprus led to the downfall of the military regime, and Konstantinos Karamanlis returned from exile to become prime minister. The 1973 republican constitution
2032-501: A second confidence vote; shortly thereafter, a new electoral bill was introduced to the chamber providing for another system of 'reinforced' proportional representation. The EK, repudiating the bill, abstained from the final vote and the bill was passed on the votes of the ERE alone. The EK threatened to boycott the upcoming elections if Pipinelis remained in power for the duration of the electoral process. Markezinis also expressed his desire for
2159-566: A settlement, however the Greek government refused. Constantine and his family did not receive their citizenship back. Although originally requesting Spanish citizenships, Anne-Marie eventually requested her sister, Margrethe II , to have Danish diplomatic passports established in the names of the members of the Greek royal family. She agreed and in their Danish passports, Constantine and Anne-Marie's names were established as "HM King Constantine II" and "HM Queen Anne-Marie". Constantine, in turn, created
2286-406: A short memorial service was held. During this trip, Constantine chose where his future tomb would be. Telling Sky UK presenter Selina Scott, Constantine said that having to leave his belongings when going into exile taught him that "material things are not that important". He also expressed his wishes to move back into the property and clean up the land surrounding it. Constantine was then warned by
2413-677: A stroke. Constantine was born in the afternoon of 2 June 1940 at his parents' residence, Villa Psychiko at Leoforos Diamantidou 14 in Psychiko , an affluent suburb of Athens . He was the second child and only son of Crown Prince Paul and Crown Princess Frederica . His father was the younger brother and heir presumptive of the reigning Greek king , George II , and his mother was the only daughter of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick , and Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia . Prince Constantine had an elder sister, Princess Sofia , born in 1938. However, since agnatic primogeniture governed
2540-459: A third in one year, and by 1967 11.6 per cent of the budget was dedicated to education. Also, although Papandreou viewed the left with some hostility, he released several thousands of prisoners still behind bars from the Civil War. Only about 1000 Communists remained in prison, a large decrease from its peak of about 20,000 in the early 1960s and 50s. The lack of cohesion between EK deputies and
2667-403: A tourist. Following this clash between police and protestors in support of Constantine, Mitsotakis made a public statement explaining that the government "had no prior knowledge of the visit and had never agreed to it. Strong action will be taken if the ex-king violates our conditions." Afterwards, Constantine and his family returned to Athens to visit Tatoi Palace and his parents' graves, where
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#17327982230342794-920: A two-month stay in Durban, Prince Paul left for England with his brother, and Constantine then barely saw his father again for the next three years. The rest of the family settled in Cape Town , where the family was joined by a younger sister, Princess Irene , born in 1942. Prince Constantine, Princess Sofia, their mother and their aunt Princess Katherine were initially lodged with South African Governor-General Patrick Duncan at his official residence Westbrooke in Cape Town. The group subsequently moved several times until they settled in Villa Irene in Pretoria with Prime Minister Jan Smuts , who quickly became
2921-476: A van north in order see the northernmost part of Greece, and were reportedly followed by between 50 and 100 cars. However, the Greek government had organised for the police to block the road, claiming that Constantine's journey was "a political step", rather than touristic. Protestors attempted to open up the road, but failed. In the next village the family stopped at, a local government official told Constantine that he would kicked out of Greece if he did not act like
3048-549: A victory for Georgios Papandreou's Centre Union. Paraskevopoulos resigned and Kanellopoulos stepped in to fill the role of the Prime Minister on 3 April 1967 until the election. Historians have suspected that Constantine and his mother were interested in a coup d'état from mid-1965 at the latest. US Army Attaché Charles Perkins reported that military right-wing group "Sacred Bond of Greek Officers" (IDEA) "plans for coup and military dictatorship in Greece", that Constantine
3175-400: A youth wing and formal procedures for the succession of leaders. However, not a single meeting of the highest authority in the party, the congress, ever took place. In anticipation of the next elections, the government of Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis announced intentions of enacting a new electoral law: the proposed law was set before parliament and on 6 May, after lengthy debate, it
3302-494: 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 unless he adopts a surname. Constantine said of this "the law basically said that I had to go out and acquire
3429-668: The Cities Police . On 21 July 1965, the protests in the centre of Athens came to a head, and in one of these clashes a policeman killed the 25-year-old student Sotiris Petroulas , leader of the student movement and of the "Lambrakis Youth". His death became a symbol of the protests and his funeral was widely attended. Athanasiadis-Novas's government did not receive a vote of confidence from parliament and Athanasiadis-Novas resigned on 5 August 1965. The two big parties, National Radical Union and Center Union, asked Constantine to call elections, but he asked Stefanos Stefanopoulos to form
3556-599: The Council of State overrode their decision and stated that the removal of their passports was a measure taken that conforms with the constitution of the Third Republic. As a result, Constantine took Greece to court in the European Court of Human Rights and sued them for €200 million. I feel the Greek government have acted unjustly and vindictively. They treat me sometimes as if I am their enemy – I am not
3683-613: The Greek Ambassador to Italy 's home reached Greek media, which didn't do Constantine's reputation "any favour". He remained in exile in Italy through the rest of military rule, although he technically continued as king until 1 June 1973. He was never to return to Greece as a reigning monarch. Constantine stated, "I am sure I shall go back the way my ancestors did." He said to the Toronto Star : I consider myself King of
3810-791: The Greek Civil War . After Constantine's uncle George II died in 1947, Paul became the new king and Constantine the crown prince . As a young man, Constantine was a competitive sailor and Olympian, winning a gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics in the Dragon class along with Odysseus Eskitzoglou and George Zaimis in the yacht Nireus . From 1964, he served on the International Olympic Committee . Constantine acceded as king following his father's death in 1964. Later that year, he married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark , with whom he had five children. Although
3937-676: The NATO Air Force Special Weapons School in Germany, as well as the University of Athens , where he took courses in the school of law. In 1955, he received the title of Duke of Sparta . Constantine was an able sportsman. In 1958, Paul gave his son a Lightning class sailing boat for Christmas. Subsequently, Constantine spent most of his free time training with the boat on the Saronic Gulf. After
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4064-510: The Shah of Iran in order to prevent possible Turkish military action during the coup. Karamanlis was also alerted to Constantine's suspicious activities by the British secret services, who had apparently taped his conversations with Greek visitors. In October 1976, the Greek prime minister was informed by the British ambassador that Constantine, while not the driving force behind the conspiracy,
4191-404: The first post-junta legislative election , Karamanlis called a referendum , held on 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 attempt to encourage a vote in favour of restoring the monarch. The king was not allowed by the government to return to Greece to campaign for
4318-626: The royalist -conservative right wing and the liberal- socialist left wing. The accession of Constantine came shortly after the 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). The Greek society hoped that the new king and the new prime minister would be able to overcome past dissensions. Later that year, on 18 September, Constantine married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark in
4445-534: The 'July events' (also known as the 'Apostasy'), a stormy political crisis revolving around the resignation of Papandreou. Immediately after Papandreou's resignation, a new government - headed by EK defectors disaffected with the Papandreous (the 'Apostates'), ERE deputies and 8 deputies belonging to the Progressive Party (all loyal to the standard of Apostate Speaker Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas ) -
4572-606: The 1977 election, it eclipsed the centrists as the second largest party in parliament. The Centre Union rebranded as the Union of the Democratic Centre (Enosi Dimokratikou Kentrou, EDIK) in 1976, though it failed to re-enter parliament after 1985. (in alliance with PP ) King Constantine II Constantine II ( Greek : Κωνσταντίνος Βʹ , romanized : Konstantínos II , pronounced [ˌkonstaˈdinos ðefˈteros] ; 2 June 1940 – 10 January 2023)
4699-539: The ASPIDA scandal, in which several military officials tried to prevent attempts by the extreme right-wing military to seize power, be referred to a military tribunal. Papandreou agreed and raised with him his intention to dismiss the then minister of defence , Petros Garoufalias , so that he could take charge himself of the ministry. Constantine refused, as the scandal wrongly implicated the prime minister's son, Andreas Papandreou . After several clashes by letter between
4826-887: The Army, the Central Intelligence Agency, the gendarmerie, the National Security Battalions and other dark forces.' General Dovas complained that all of Papandreou's demands prior to the election had been satisfied and pointed out that abstentions had been at a fifteen-year low. On 2 December, the socialist parties and all but nine Centre Union deputies were absent from the State opening of Parliament in order to protest what they believed to be an illegal administration. Accordingly, on 7 December, without any Centre Union votes, Karamanlis received his vote of confidence by 174 votes to 21. The next stage of
4953-552: The Centre Union, now illegal, was placed under the titular leadership of Georgios Mavros . Mavros reconstituted the Centre Union in 1974 as the Centre Union - New Forces (Enosi Kentrou - Nees Dynameis, EK - ND). The leadership was offered to Andreas Papandreou; however, he declined the offer. Papandreou instead formed the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Panellinio Sosialistiko Kinima, PASOK) and in
5080-678: The Civil War, on 1 April 1947, George died. Thus, Constantine's father ascended the throne, and Constantine himself became Crown Prince of Greece at the age of six. He then moved with his family from the villa in Psychiko to Tatoi Palace at the foot of the Parnitha Mountains in the northern part of the Attica peninsula. The first years of Paul's reign did not bring great upheavals in his son's daily life. Constantine and his sisters were brought up relatively simply, and communication
5207-653: The Defence Ministry as well as that of Premier. Papandreou, enjoying a healthy parliamentary majority, came to the King and demanded that he be made Defence Minister while holding the Premiership as well which was a prerequisite of replacing the Chief of Staff. The King refused on the grounds that Papandreou’s son Andreas had yet to prove himself innocent in the ASPIDA case. In disgust, Papandreou resigned, kicking off
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5334-475: The EK's threats. The legislative election of 3 November 1963 resulted in the Centre Union, carrying the day, albeit narrowly: the Centre Union managed to take 138 out of the 300 seats in parliament with the ERE coming second with 132 seats. The EDA took 28. On 6 November, the king called on Papandreou to form a government. Georgios Papandreou was now prime minister. The Centre Union's victory can largely be credited to
5461-448: The EK's war against the establishment was waged against the king, which involved a boycott of all official functions. Duly, he declined an invitation to a Court Ball celebrating King Paul's sixtieth birthday on 14 December 1961, replying, "Mr Georgios Papandreou will not be attending." Likewise, Sofoklis Venizelos and Spyros Markezinis excused themselves by informing the king that they could not come due to being abroad. Karamanlis’ position
5588-547: The Greek diaspora, which provided them with lodging, money and clothing. The presence of the Greek royal family and government began to worry King Farouk of Egypt and his pro-Italian ministers. Constantine and his family, therefore, had to seek another refuge where they could get through the war and continue their fight against the Axis powers. George VI of the United Kingdom opposed the presence of Princess Frederica, who
5715-587: 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. Throughout the dictatorship, Constantine maintained contact with the junta, maintaining direct communication with the colonels and kept the royal subsidy until 1973. On 21 March 1972, Papadopoulos became Regent. At
5842-732: The Liberal Democratic Party (Fileleftheron Dimokratikon Komma), a splinter party from the Liberal Party surrounding Georgios Papandreou , the Liberal Party (Komma Fileleftheron) of Sofoklis Venizelos and the New Political Forces (Nea Politiki Kinisis). These parties appeared in the wake of the 1958 legislative election which resulted in the Liberal Party, under the joint leadership of Venizelos and Papandreou, coming third, having been eclipsed by
5969-505: The accession of the young monarch was initially regarded auspiciously, his reign saw political instability that culminated in the Colonels' Coup of 21 April 1967 . The coup left Constantine, as head of state , with little room to manoeuvre since he had no loyal military forces on which to rely. He thus reluctantly agreed to inaugurate the junta, on the condition that it be made up largely of civilian ministers. On 13 December 1967, Constantine
6096-404: The afternoon swore in a new military government. He did, however, insist on appointing Supreme Court prosecutor Konstantinos Kollias as prime minister. On 26 April, in his speech on the new regime, he affirmed that "I am sure that with the will of God, with your efforts and above all with the help of the people, the organization of a State of Law, an authentic and healthy democracy". According to
6223-419: The air force, Konstantinos Kollias, lieutenant general Kechagias, Ioannis Manettas, brigadier generals Erselman and Vidalis, major general Zalochoris, and others, so it was expected that the counterattack would be successful. The king communicated with Konstantinos Karamanlis , who was exiled in Paris and aware of the plot, and attempted to persuade him return to assume the post of prime minister if this movement
6350-444: The army would not be altered. In the leadup to the election scheduled for 28 May 1967, the EK introduced a bill extending parliamentary immunity for the duration of the campaign aimed at protecting Andreas Papandreou, who was still under scrutiny for his potential involvement in ASPIDA; in March 1967, fifteen officers charged with being involved in the ASPIDA affair were convicted. Interim Prime Minister Ioannis Paraskevopoulos resigned in
6477-550: The army. The coup leaders met Constantine at his residence in Tatoi at about 7 a.m, which was surrounded by tanks to prevent resistance and the coup seemed to have succeeded bloodlessly. Constantine later recounted that the officers of the tank platoons believed they were carrying out the coup under his orders. They asked Constantine to swear in the new government. Despite the detained Prime Minister Knellopoulos urging resistance, Constantine compromised with them to avoid bloodshed and in
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#17327982230346604-529: The best way to showcase the country to their children, who were unable to grow up within Greece. The opposition claimed that the government was attempting to reinstate the monarchy. On 9 August 1993, the family departed from the UK on two planes, including a jet donated to Constantine by King Hussein of Jordan . The Greek government was unaware of Constantine and his family's holiday, which had been planned and charted by Princess Alexia . Constantine, and then his family
6731-421: The boat Nireus and other members of the team included Odysseus Eskitzoglou and Georgios Zaimis . Constantine was also a strong swimmer and had a black belt in karate, with interests in squash , track events, and riding. In 1963, Constantine became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He resigned in 1974 because he was no longer a Greek resident, and was made an honorary IOC member. He
6858-447: The cause of a royal restoration. At the funeral of King Baudouin of Belgium , a private agreement was made between Constantine and the new conservative Greek prime minister, Konstantinos Mitsotakis , that allowed Constantine and his family to temporarily return to Greece on a holiday. Constantine was accompanied by his wife Anne-Marie, their five children, and his sister Irene. The family had decided that yachting around Greece would be
6985-487: The citizens. But some conspirators were neutralised, such as General Manettas, and Odysseas Angelis informed the public of the plan, asking citizens to obey his orders minutes before telecommunications were cut off. By noon, all the airbases, except one in Athens, had joined the royalist movement, and fleet leader Vice Admiral Dedes, before being arrested, ordered successfully the whole fleet sail towards Kavala in obedience to
7112-498: The communists, were opposed. Instead, George had to appoint from exile a Regency Council headed by Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens , who immediately appointed a republican-majority government headed by Nikolaos Plastiras . George, who was humiliated, ill and powerless, considered abdicating for a time in favour of his brother, but eventually decided against it. Prince Paul, who was more combative but also more popular than his brother, would have liked to return to Greece as heir to
7239-453: The continuity between the former Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Greece . On 23 March 1964, he was sworn in before the parliament and was invested as chief of the armed forces with the highest ranks in each branch. Due to his youth, Constantine was also perceived as a promise of change. Greece was still feeling the effects of the Civil War and society was strongly polarised between
7366-503: The country. Local monarchists campaigned on his behalf. The vote to restore the monarchy was only about 31% with most of the support coming from the Peloponnese region. Almost 69% of the electorate voted against the restoration of the monarchy and for the establishment of a republic. Constantine remained in exile for 40 years after the vote in favour of the republic, living in Italy and the United Kingdom. He returned briefly for
7493-465: The court ruled in the royal family's favour in November 2000. The ruling, however, did not require the government to return the family's properties and instead allowed them to be compensated through money. Of the €200 million claim, Constantine won €12 million, Irene won €900,000 and Katherine €300,000. The court encouraged six months of meetings between Constantine and the Greek government to coordinate
7620-420: The elected leadership of Georgios Papandreou by the centre-left seemed possible. An end to the crisis seemed in sight when, on 20 December 1966, Papandreou, ERE leader Panagiotis Kanellopoulos and the king reached a resolution: elections would be held under a straightforward system of proportional representation where all parties participating agreed to compete, and that, in any outcome, the command structure of
7747-552: The end of May 1973, senior officers of the Greek navy organised an abortive coup to overthrow the junta government, but failed. The dictators considered Constantine to be involved, so on 1 June, with a constitutional act, Papadopoulos declared the monarchy abolished. He converted the country into a presidential and parliamentary state and assumed the interim presidency of the republic. In June 1973, Papadopoulos condemned Constantine as "a collaborator with foreign forces and with murderers" and accused him of "pursuing ambitions to become
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#17327982230347874-399: The enemy. I consider it the greatest insult in this world for a Greek to be told he is not a Greek or for a Greek to be told that he has to apply for his nationality. I was born Greek, I am Greek and I will die Greek, and there are certain things that every human being will not go further with. You cannot push an individual further and this is my limit. Months after the initiation of the claim,
8001-466: The ensuing row and Kanellopoulos stepped in to fill the role of the Prime Minister until the May election. Despite the crisis subsiding early on, on 21 April 1967, a month before the scheduled elections, a clique of relatively junior officers headed by Georgios Papadopoulos took over in a coup d'état. Senior officials, including the two Papandreous, were arrested. Georgios Papandreou died on 1 November 1968 and
8128-637: The first son, he was named after his paternal grandfather, Constantine I , who had died in 1923. At his baptism on 20 July 1940 at the Royal Palace of Athens , the Hellenic Armed Forces acted as his godparent. Constantine was born during the early stages of World War II . He was just a few months old when, on 28 October 1940, Fascist Italy invaded Greece from Albania , beginning the Greco-Italian War . The Greek Army
8255-400: The first time in February 1981, which was to attend the funeral of his mother in the family cemetery of the former Royal Palace at Tatoi. The funeral was generally controversial, due to the little empathy generated by Queen Frederica and the royal family, which is why the government authorized him to stay only for six hours in the country. His gesture of kissing the ground upon arrival in Greece
8382-422: The former monarch denied knowledge of the conspiracy, but when called upon, Arnaoutis confirmed his contacts with officers in Greece in the presence of both Constantine and Papagos. The events were confirmed in 1999 by one of the officers whom Arnaoutis had approached, Vice Admiral Ioannis Vasileiadis , after the publication of Papagos' memoirs. According to Vasileiadis, Arnaoutis said that Constantine had contacted
8509-458: The government to move on from Tatoi and alerted them of protestors who were threatening to burn Tatoi's forestry down. Whilst travelling to Spetses , the government ordered that Constantine should not travel to heavily populated areas, to which Constantine said, "It's a free country". When he arrived at a port in Spetses, a harbour policeman jumped onto their boat, but Constantine pushed him to
8636-505: The government, as well as accepting their resignations. As the king's condition worsened, the crown prince went to Tinos to attain an icon considered miraculous by the Greek Orthodox Church . On 6 March 1964, Paul died and the 23-year-old Constantine succeeded him as King of the Hellenes. The new king ascended the throne as Constantine II, although some of his supporters preferred to call him Constantine XIII to emphasize
8763-494: The ground for an election, as opposed to Karamanlis' view that elections should be held as soon as possible. Eventually, after five days of consultations, the king called on Pipienlis, who he knew would enjoy the support of all 180 ERE deputies (thus constituting a majority), to form a government. This was not what the Centre Union had bargained for, as Papandreou denounced the new government as "inspiring no confidence in its ability to hold fair elections." The customary confidence vote
8890-759: The handling of the armed forces. Petros Garoufalias , a royalist Centre Union deputy, enjoyed the King’s support as Minister of National Defence. In turn, Garoufalias appointed officers loyal to both the King and himself. This was not acceptable to Papandreou, whose primary goal at that point was to purge the armed forces of conspiratorial elements which were vehemently against Papandreou and even more violently against his son holding far more radical views than his aging father. Initially, Papandreou retaliated against politically active officers by moving them as far away as possible from Athens, blocking their promotions or forcing their retirement, but he could only do so much without occupying
9017-447: The idea of a countercoup ten minutes after he found out about the junta's rise to power. Constantine began negotiations with the officials loyal to him in the summer of 1967. His objective was to mobilise the units of the army loyal to him and to restore parliamentary legitimacy. The action was planned by Lieutenant General Konstantinos Dovas . Several military authorities joined the plan, including lieutenant general Antonakos, chief of
9144-429: The idea of an illegal 'para-state' on firmer ground. The crisis atmosphere was heightened when Karamanlis began having spats with King Paul over a state visit to England that was set to take place in the summer of 1963. Karamanlis, after reaching no agreement with the king regarding the matter, submitted his resignation and suggested that diplomatist and outgoing ERE minister Panagiotis Pipinelis should be entrusted with
9271-538: The involved officials began to realise that the plan could fail as they didn't count on the active support of American intelligence, who were aware of the details of the plan. They intended to initiate their plan on the day of a military parade scheduled for 28 October, but the junta-installed Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff , Odysseas Angelis , refused to mobilise the units that Georgios Peridis requested. The abortive attempt, along with
9398-537: The junta for the return of democracy. The presence of the United States Sixth Fleet in the Aegean Sea outraged the junta government, which forced Constantine to get rid of his private secretary, Michail Arnaoutis [ el ] . Arnaoutis, who had served as the king's military instructor in the 1950s and became his close friend, was generally reviled among the public for his role in
9525-456: The king reached a resolution; elections would be held under a straightforward system of proportional representation where all parties participating agreed to compete, and that, in any outcome, the command structure of the army would not be altered. The third "apostate" government fell on 22 December 1966, and was succeeded by Ioannis Paraskevopoulos , who was to govern until the parliamentary elections of 28 May 1967 , which were expected to favour
9652-513: The king. They did not manage to take Thessaloniki and it soon became apparent that the senior officers were not in control of their units. This, along with the arrest of several officers, including the capture of Peridis that afternoon, and the delay in the execution of some orders, led to the countercoup's failure. The junta, led by Georgios Papadopoulos, on the same day appointed General Georgios Zoitakis as Regent of Greece . Archbishop Ieronymos swore Zoitakis into office in Athens. Constantine,
9779-460: The last monarch of Greece, Constantine said that it is "very hard" to determine the future. Constantine served as patron of Box Hill School , a private school in Mickleham , in the south of England until his death. According to a nationwide 2007 survey of 2,040 households in Greece conducted on behalf of the newspaper To Vima , only 11.6% supported a constitutional monarchy. More than half of
9906-471: The leadership resulted in the collapse of the Centre Union government. A leading cause for the schism in the party was the accusation of nepotism and lust for power on the part of Georgios Papandreou. Andreas Papandreou , the son of Georgios Papandreou, was appointed First Minister of State and Minister of Coordination in 1964, the same year he was elected to Parliament. Rising stars in the party, including future premier Konstantinos Mitsotakis , felt as though
10033-489: The lower and middle class by increasing pensions and prices for farmers; the system in which elections take place in the General Confederation of Greek Workers was made fairer. The government put a lot of emphasis on education by abolishing fees for universities and secondary schools; additional university teachers were appointed, a larger intake into universities was accepted, the period of compulsory education
10160-527: The military dictatorship, he had the opportunity to be removed from the Greek Orthodox Cephaly, in fact it was one of the first measures with which Constantine collaborated with the Junta. On 28 April 1967, Chrysostomos II was retained and was forced to resign after having to sign one of the two versions of the letter brought to him by an official of the royal palace. Finally, Ieronymos Kotsonis
10287-479: The monarch and the prime minister, Papandreou resigned on 15 July. Following the resignation, at least 39 members of Parliament left Center Union. Constantine appointed a new government led by Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas , speaker of the parliament, which was formed by defectors disaffected with the Papandreous (the 'Apostates'). Soon, thousands of citizens took to the streets to protest against Constantine's decision, unprecedented protests that led to clashes with
10414-592: The palace intrigues of the previous years. The junta, considering him an able and dangerous plotter, dismissed him from the army. The king and his entourage were beginning to worry that the future of the monarchy was endangered. Constantine visited the United States in the following days and in a meeting with Johnson, Constantine asked for military aid for a countercoup he was planning, but without success. The junta, however, had information about Constantine's conspiracy. Constantine later described himself as having
10541-523: The palace of Tatoi, which was transported in containers to the residence of the royal couple in exile amid shouts of citizens. That same year, he signed an agreement with the Mitsotakis government to cede most of his movable property in Greece to a non-profit foundation in the country, in exchange for recovering Tatoi. Two years later, as stated in a bill legislated in 1994, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou abrogated that agreement and refused to return
10668-524: The polls again after laying out a vote-catching program before parliament in 1964. The 16 February legislative election yielded a landslide victory for Papandreou. The EK secured 52.7 per cent of the popular vote equating to 171 seats in parliament. The Centre Union were especially large in more prosperous agricultural regions, where the police's grip on power had been much weakened. The EK also attracted lower middle-class voters. The 1964-1965 government, headed by Papandreou, enacted overdue reforms catered towards
10795-452: The premiership and that elections should be held immediately. Paul also favoured Pipinelis because he, unlike Karamanlis, would support the proposed state visit to England. Paul refused immediate elections on the basis that he must not be abroad on the state visit in the midst of an election. Paul then summoned Papandreou and Markezinis who both agreed that a 'service' government enjoying the confidence of parliament should be appointed to prepare
10922-425: The properties seized from Constantine. The law also stripped Greek citizenships from Constantine and all members of the royal family. The only way they could regain their citizenship and passports would be if Constantine swore allegiance to the new republican constitution and renounced his and his descendants' rights as heirs of the former Greek throne. Constantine refused to do so. That same year, Constantine requested
11049-464: The reduction of the EDA vote to less than 20% so that the two 'nationally-minded' parties, EK and the ruling National Radical Union (Ethniki Rizospastiki Enosis, ERE), could contest the elections within the framework of democracy. Of the two major parties, the Centre Union had a more cohesive party structure. It had an official constitution, membership provisions, professional cadres, national conventions,
11176-739: The respondents, 50.9%, considered that the dictatorship of the junta had brought benefits to Greece. During the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics , Constantine, in his role as honorary member of the International Olympic Committee, was the official presenter at the sailing medal ceremonies. He was Co-President of Honour of the International Sailing Federation , along with Harald V of Norway , from 1994 on. All-Democratic Agricultural Front The All-Democratic Agricultural Front ( PAME ; Greek : Πανδημοκρατικό Αγροτικό Μέτωπο (ΠΑΜΕ) )
11303-621: The rest of his family, display holy relics and present gifts. Constantine then took a helicopter and landed on a soccer pitch in Florina , where "hundreds" of people greeted him with handshakes and flowers. Constantine's decision to land in Florina was named a "politically sensitive spot to appear in" in view of the region's greater support for the monarchy over other regions and due to the Macedonia naming dispute . Constantine and his family took
11430-432: The restoration of constitutional monarchy. He was only allowed to broadcast to the Greek people from London on television. Analysts claim this was a deliberate act by the government to reduce the possibility of a vote in favour of restoration. Constantine, speaking from London, said he had made mistakes in the past. He said he would always be supportive of democracy in future and promised that his mother would stay away from
11557-487: The results were denounced by the extreme left and the Centre Union as illegitimate; Papandreou proclaimed that the results were 'a product of violence and fraud,' thus inaugurating Papandreou's 'unrelenting struggle' for free and fair elections. Meanwhile, several days after the election, deputy leader of the EK, Sofoklis Venizelos, declared that the EK was fighting more than just the ERE, but also 'the General Staff of
11684-610: The return of the palace of Tatoi to his ownership, arguing that it is rightfully his as his ancestors had personally purchased the building and the surrounding land, however the Papandreou government refused. Constantine, Anne-Marie, Irene and Princess Katherine , Constantine's aunt, took the Greek government to court in April 1996 over the confiscation of their citizenships and properties. The Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece agreed with their discrimination claim, however
11811-405: The royal family and Konstantinos Kollias took off in torrential rain from Kavala for exile in Rome, where they arrived at 4 p.m. on 14 December, with their plane having only five minutes of fuel left. In 2004, Constantine said that he would have done everything the same, but with more caution. Two weeks after his exile, photos of Constantine and his family celebrating Christmas with normality in
11938-463: The same age as Constantine and his sisters. In 1944, at the end of World War II, Nazi Germany gradually withdrew from Greece. While the majority of exiled Greeks were able to return to their country, the royal family had to remain in exile because of the growing republican opposition at home. Britain tried to reinstate George II, who remained in exile in London, but most of the resistance, in particular
12065-455: The side and set foot on the mainland. A crowd greeted Constantine and his family, but at night and during the following day, their yacht was surrounded by government ships and flown over by military planes. Constantine then contacted Sky News UK and was interviewed by presenter David Blaine, to whom Constantine told on live air that he was being harassed by the government, who had "frightened the daylights" out of his children. Constantine's yacht
12192-499: The socialist United Democratic Left (Eniaa Dimokratiki Aristera). Added on the centre-left were the National Progressive Centre Union (Ethniki Proodeftiki Enosis Kentrou), the Party of Peasants and Workers (Komma Agrotikon kai Ergazomenon) and Ilias Tsirimokos ' Democratic Union party (Dimokratiki Enosis). On the right were Stefanos Stefanopoulos’ Popular Social Party (Laikon Koinonikon Komma),
12319-407: The subsiding of anti-Communism, which had flared up in the years following the Civil War and growing unemployment. Papandreou dispelled any hopes that King Paul initially held that the former himself might seek a coalition with the ERE and announced he would only seek backing from his party and those disaffected with others. By 24 December, however, when he obtained a confidence vote, it turned out he
12446-467: The succession to throne in Greece at the time, the birth of a male heir to the throne had been anxiously awaited by the Greek royal family , and the newborn prince was therefore received with joy by his parents. His birth was celebrated with a 101– gun salute from Mount Lycabettus in Athens, which, according to tradition, announced that the newborn was a boy. According to Greek naming practices , being
12573-539: The supervision of Jocelin Winthrop Young , a British disciple of the German-Jewish educator Kurt Hahn . The tension between communists and conservatives led, in the following years, to the Greek Civil War . That conflict was fought mainly in northern Greece. The Civil War ended in 1949, with the victory of the bourgeois and royalists, who had been supported by Britain and the United States. During
12700-422: The then- US ambassador to Greece , Phillips Talbot , Constantine expressed his anger at this situation, revealed to him that he no longer had control of the army and claimed that "incredibly stupid extreme right-wing bastards with control of the tanks are leading Greece to destruction". From his inauguration as king, Constantine already manifested his disagreements with Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Athens . With
12827-500: The throne as early as the liberation of Athens in 1944, as he believed that back in his country he would have been quickly proclaimed regent, which would have blocked the way for Damaskinos and made it easier to restore the monarchy. However, the unstable situation in the country and the polarisation between communists and bourgeois allowed the monarchists to return to power after the parliamentary elections of March 1946 . After becoming prime minister , Konstantinos Tsaldaris organised
12954-644: The throne. He then started at the Anávryta lyceum in Marousi , northeast of Athens, which also followed Kurt Hahn's pedagogy. He attended school there as a boarder between 1950 and 1958, while his sisters attended school in Salem, Baden-Württemberg , Germany. From 1955, Constantine served in all three branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces, attending the requisite military academies. He also attended
13081-452: The visit of Constantine together with Peridis to some military divisions, were noted by the junta. On the morning of the day the countercoup had been rescheduled to, 13 December 1967, after eight months of planning the countercoup, the royal family flew to Kavala , east of Thessaloniki, accompanied by Prime Minister Konstantinos Kollias who was informed at that moment of Constantine's plan. They arrived at 11:30 a.m. and were well received by
13208-483: The younger Papandreou had not served his time in the party required to garner him the role of what is effectively the assistant prime minister. Disdain of Andreas Papandreou came to a head when, in May 1965, a report written by EK deputies opposed to the Papandreous accused Andreas of collaborating with ASPIDA, a grouping of left-leaning military officers. Papandreou and King Constantine II ’s (Paul died in March 1964) relationship began to break down over disagreements on
13335-601: Was a close friend of his second cousin Charles III , then Prince of Wales, and a godfather to Charles's son Prince William . Constantine's 60th birthday lunch marked the first time that Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles were seen in public together in a relationship. In 2004, Constantine returned to Greece temporarily during the Athens Olympic Games as a member of the International Olympic Committee. Later that year, when asked whether he thought he would be
13462-553: Was able to halt the invasion temporarily and push the Italians back into Albania . However, the Greek successes forced Nazi Germany to intervene and the Germans invaded Greece and Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941 and overran both countries within a month, despite British aid to Greece in the form of an expeditionary corps. On 22 April 1941, Princess Frederica and her two children, Sofia and Constantine, were evacuated to Crete in
13589-421: Was also polemic as it was considered an act of provocation for the antiroyalists. The posthumously published archives of Konstantinos Karamanlis, as well as the memoirs of Constantine's former marshal of the court, Leonidas Papagos [ el ] , revealed that from 1975 to 1978, Constantine was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the democratic government, including the assassination of Karamanlis and
13716-646: Was an honorary member of the International Soling Association and president of the International Dragon Association. In 1964, Paul's health deteriorated rapidly. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer and underwent surgery for an ulcer in February. Prior to this, Constantine had already been appointed regent for his ailing father while waiting for his recovery. During his regency, Constantine limited himself to signing decrees and appointing members of
13843-451: Was at the heart of the pedagogy of their parents, who spent all the time they could with their children. Supervised by various British governesses and tutors, the children spoke English in the family but were also fluent in Greek. Until he was nine, Constantine continued to be educated with his sisters and other companions from Athens' wealthier population in the villa at Psychiko. After that age, Paul decided to begin preparing his son for
13970-577: Was aware and that the group was aware that any operation in this direction with the cooperation of the US must have the permission of the king. According to Charilaos Lagoudakis, a US State Department expert on Greece, by mid-1966 Constantine had already approved a coup plan. On the other hand, historian C.M. Woodhouse rejects any involvement of Constantine in the conspiracy. A traditionalist, right-wing nationalist group of middle-ranking army officers led by Colonel George Papadopoulos took action first and staged
14097-452: Was elected as metropolitan by the junta's and Constantine's proposal on 13 May 1967. From the outset, the relationship between Constantine and the regime of the colonels was an uneasy one, especially when he refused to sign the decree imposing martial law and asked Talbot to flee Greece in an American helicopter with his family. But the administration of US president Lyndon B. Johnson wanted to keep Constantine in Greece to negotiate with
14224-421: Was extended to nine years from six, and primary education was to be conducted completely in demotic (common) Greek which was also to have equal status to katharevousa (purified) in secondary schools. New subjects were introduced and more emphasis was put on others; sociology and economics were added to the curriculum subjects while importance was put on modern languages. In total, educational expenditure increased by
14351-451: Was feared that the ruling party may try and tamper with the results. On 29 September, the results were fully counted: the ERE received 50.8 percent of votes cast, equating to 176 seats; the Centre Union, in collaboration with Spyros Markezinis’ Progressive Party , garnered 33.7 percent of the popular vote translating to 100 seats. The majority of the remaining votes went to the left-wing Pandemocratic Agrarian Front of Greece . Immediately,
14478-509: Was forced to flee the country, following an unsuccessful countercoup against the junta. Constantine formally remained Greece's head of state in exile until the junta abolished the monarchy in June 1973, a decision ratified via a referendum in July , which was contested by Constantine. After the restoration of democracy a year later, another referendum was called for December 1974, but Constantine
14605-588: Was formed. This government fell in August and was replaced by a new one, headed by Ilias Tsirimokos, which fell a few weeks later in September when it failed to receive the mandatory vote of confidence. Stefanos Stefanopoulos was then appointed and obtained a confidence vote. In total, there were 45 'Apostates.' The 'Apostasy' had a radicalising effect on the centre-left of the EK. This segment increasingly looked to Andreas Papandreou and, at one point, abandonment from
14732-568: Was not allowed to return to Greece to campaign. The referendum confirmed by a majority of almost 70% the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Third Hellenic Republic . Constantine accepted the verdict of the 1974 vote. From 1975 until 1978 he was involved in conspiracies to overthrow the government via a coup , which eventually did not materialize. After living for several decades in London, Constantine moved back to Athens in 2013. He died there in 2023 following
14859-485: Was on course to stop at Gytheio , where a reported 5,000 to 10,000 people were waiting for him. Military warships were denying the yacht's progress towards the town, so Constantine stopped in Neapoli Voion , where there was a crowd of a few hundred people, but also many anti-monarchists. Following this stop, Constantine and his family returned to the UK. In 1992, Constantine reclaimed all the movable property from
14986-415: Was passed. A system of 'reinforced' proportional representation was introduced, which gave minor parties a slight advantage in comparison with the previous law. King Paul , in accordance with political traditions in Greece, appointed a 'service' government headed by the chief of the royal household, General Konstantinos Dovas , to oversee the campaign period to ensure impartial conduct of the election as it
15113-413: Was regarded as illegitimate, and the new administration issued a decree restoring the 1952 constitution. Constantine expected 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. Following the appointment of a civilian government in November 1974 after
15240-401: Was succeeded by several shaky governments which relied on the votes of the opposition and defectors from the Centre Union. The turmoil surrounding Papandreou's resignation became known as the 'Apostasy' which led directly to the Greek military junta of 1967-1974 . The Centre Union was founded in September 1961, six weeks before the elections that same year. The forces of the centre consisted of
15367-471: Was successful, but he refused. The main objective of the plan drawn up by the movement was that all the units initiated would occupy Thessaloniki and the king would send a message to the public. It would follow the military operations in Tempi , Larissa and Lamia by the army and the swearing in of a new government by Archbishop Ieronymos with the participation of the centrist Georgios Mavros . Constantine and
15494-631: Was suspected of having Nazi sympathies, and her children in Britain, but it was decided that Constantine's father and uncle could take up residence in London, where a government-in-exile was set up, while the rest of the family could seek refuge in the then- Union of South Africa . On 27 June 1941, most of the Greek royal family, therefore, set off for South Africa on board the Dutch steamship Nieuw Amsterdam , which arrived in Durban on 8 July 1941. After
15621-663: Was the last King of Greece , reigning from 6 March 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973. Constantine was born in Athens as the only son of Crown Prince Paul and Crown Princess Frederica of Greece . Being of Danish descent, he was also born as a prince of Denmark . As his family was forced into exile during the Second World War , he spent the first years of his childhood in Egypt and South Africa . He returned to Greece with his family in 1946 during
15748-431: Was therefore boycotted by the Centre Union deputies who all arose from their seats and walked out, except for Sofoklis Venizelos, having promised to cast his vote for the government after two offending ministers were replaced, who informed the teller that he was giving the government a 'vote of tolerance.' He then followed his fellow deputies and walked out. With the state visit safely behind, Pipinelis demanded and obtained
15875-484: Was undermined further when, on 27 May 1963, Grigorios Lambrakis , a left-wing deputy from Piraeus, was murdered by two men wielding clubs in the course of a peaceful protest. The Lambrakis assassination revealed a right-wing underworld when it was revealed the two killers had close links to the local gendarmerie, therefore roping in Karamanlis. While it is unlikely Karamanlis had any ties to the assassination, it placed
16002-402: Was very much aware of it and did nothing to discourage it. The British also provided warnings that sympathizers had informed Constantine that a coup would take place in November 1976, led by low-ranking army officers loyal to former dictator Dimitrios Ioannidis . Karamanlis and his chief diplomatic adviser, Petros Molyviatis , applied pressure on both the British and US governments, which led to
16129-499: Was wrong. The ERE voted solidly against the new government; therefore, Papandreou relied on the votes of his party and the socialist EDA. Despite his party not occupying the majority of seats in Parliament, he still flatly refused any deals with the EDA which he believed to be a front for the illegal Communist Party (KKE). This view was shared by many politicians of the two 'nationally-minded' parties. Georgios Papandreou headed to
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