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HIS MAJESTY, CONSTANTINE II

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King of the Hellenes

Incumbent

[background-block=white][color=white]11212[/color][/background-block] [center][font=Georgia][b]Reign[/b] 6 March, 1964 — Current[/center][/font]

Preceded by	Paul
Heir Apparent	Crown Prince Pavlos

Personal Details

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Born	Konstantinos Pavlos Nikolaos Georgios 2 June, 1940 (age 54) Psychiko Palace, Athens, Kingdom of Greece
Political Party	None (monarch)
Nationality	Greek
Spouse(s)	Queen Anne-Marie of Denmark (m. 1964)
Children	Princess Alexia Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece Prince Nikolaos Princess Theodora Prince Philippos
Alma Mater	NATO Air Force Special Weapons School, University of Athens (JD)
Profession	Monarch of Greece
Religion	Church of Greece (Greek Orthodox)

Constantine II (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Βʹ, Konstantínos II, pronounced [ˌkonstanˈdinos]; born 2 June 1940) is the King of Greece (constitutionally known as the King of the Hellenes).

He acceded as King following the death of his father King Paul in March 1964. Later that year he married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark with whom he eventually had five children. 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 created unrest among sections of the population and aggravated the ongoing political instability that culminated in the Colonels' Coup of 21 April 1967.

The coup failed and Constantine remained on as monarch. He has since worked closely with his governments to better increase democracy and freedoms in the Kingdom of Greece.

Personal Life

Constantine was born at the Psychiko Palace in Psychiko, a suburb of Athens. He was the nephew of King George II, and also the second child and only son of the king's brother and heir presumptive, Prince Paul. His mother was Princess Frederica of Hanover. Constantine's older sister Queen Sofía of Spain is the wife of the retired King Juan Carlos I of Spain, while his younger sister, Princess Irene, has never been married.

Constantine was just one year old when Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany invaded Greece, and he spent the next four years in exile in Egypt and Cape Town, South Africa (where his sister Irene was born) with his family. He returned to Greece with his family in 1946. King George died in 1947, and Constantine's father became the new king, making Constantine the crown prince. He was educated at a preparatory school and later a boarding school. 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 three branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces, attending the requisite military academies. He also attended 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.

Constantine was an able sportsman. In 1960, aged 20, he won an Olympic gold medal in sailing (dragon class), which was the first Greek gold medal in sailing since the Stockholm 1912 Summer Olympics. He 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). In 1995, he was granted the position and title of Supreme Head of the Church of Greece.

Reign

In March 1964, King Paul died of cancer, and the 23-year-old Constantine succeeded him as king. Prior to this, Constantine had already been appointed as regent for his ailing father.

King Paul's long-time prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis regarded him partly responsible for his fall from leadership in 1963.

However, due to his youth, he was also perceived as a promise of change. The accession of Constantine coincided with the recent 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).

Greece was still feeling the effects of the Civil War of 1944–49 between communists and monarchists, and society was strongly polarised between the royalist/conservative right and the liberal/socialist center-left. It was hoped that the new young king and the new prime minister would be able to overcome past dissensions.

Initially, relations between the king and Papandreou seemed good, but by 1965, they had deteriorated. The conservative establishment feared the rising influence of Papandreou's left-leaning son Andreas, and the outbreak of the purported ASPIDA scandal seemed to confirm their suspicions.

The name of Andreas Papandreou was implicated in the case, and when the defense minister, Petros Garoufalias tried to form a committee of inquiry into the alleged scandal, the prime minister forced his resignation. Immediately, George Papandreou assigned the defense portfolio to himself, which caused alarm in the palace and the conservative security circles, which interpreted this move as an attempt by Papandreou to control the army. Constantine refused to accept the self-appointment, and 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: 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 own resignation, stating that it was well within his constitutional powers as the elected prime minister commanding a Parliamentary majority to appoint his ministers at his pleasure, and it was beyond the constitutional powers of the king to refuse him this right.

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, which became known as the "Royal Coup" (Το Βασιλικό Πραξικόπημα), evoked much criticism as being unconstitutional.

According to the critics, the appointment of this and successive governments consisting of aisle-crossers instead of the proclamation of new elections caused a constitutional crisis and political instability that lasted for more than two years and led to the Greek military coup in 1967.

After his failure, Novas was succeeded by Ilias Tsirimokos, who also failed to form a stable government and was dismissed. Constantine next appointed some of Papandreou's dissidents, known as the July Apostates and led by Stefanos Stefanopoulos, to form a government of "king's men", which lasted until December 1966, amidst mounting strikes and protests, supported by the right-wing ERE.

When Stefanopoulos resigned in frustration, Constantine appointed a caretaker government under Ioannis Paraskevopoulos, which called elections for May 1967. This government did not even last until the scheduled elections. It was replaced on 3 April 1967 by another caretaker government under the leadership of the ERE, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos.

A traditionalist, right-wing nationalist group of middle-ranking army officers led by Colonel George Papadopoulos took action and staged a coup d'état on 21 April. 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, Konstantinos Kollias, as prime minister. Panayotis Kanellopoulos, the last legitimate prime minister of Greece prior to the coup, acting as a witness for the prosecution, at the junta trials in 1975 during metapolitefsi, testified how he was arrested by machine-gun toting soldiers and transported to the palace to meet King Constantine. He added that during the meeting he urged the king to use his status as commander-in-chief of the Greek military to order loyal officers to crush the coup.

A few weeks later, Constantine launched a counter-coup. He ordered loyal military officers to arrest those who were in charge of the coup. The two sides battered in a bitter standoff which lasted for 19 hours. After what seemed like many bitter hours of the standoff, the coup leaders, exhausted and defeated morally couldn't keep their own soldiers from remaining loyal to them. Constantine arrived in downtown Athens, where he accepted the surrender of the coup leaders and they were promptly arrested and dishonorably discharged from the Greek Military. They were all sentenced for treason against His Majesty and were sentenced to 30 years in prison.

After the failed coup, King Constantine addressed the nation, promising democratic reform and being more open and available to the people. Despite the coup, Constantine remains popular with the Greek people.

He has since stepped out of governmental affairs, only performing his constitutional duties when necessary. The Church of Greece voted to give him the title of Supreme Head of the Church of Greece in 1995.

Marriage and Children

Constantine married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark in a Greek Orthodox ceremony in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens on 18 September 1964.

They have 5 children together.

• Princess Alexia, born on 10 July 1965 at Mon Repos in Corfu.

• Crown Prince Pavlos, born on 20 May 1967 at Tatoi Palace in Athens.

• Prince Nikolaos, born on 1 October 1969 at Tatoi Palace in Athens.

• Princess Theodora, born on 9 June 1983 at Tatoi Palace in Athens.

• Prince Philippos, born on 26 April 1986 at Tatoi Palace in Athens.

Titles and Honors

Constantine II in his capacity as King is referred to as:

His Most Gracious and Splendid Majesty, By the Grace of God Almighty and Christ Our Savior, Constantine the Second, King of the Hellenes and Other Greek Peoples, Supreme Head of the Church of Greece, Defender of the Orthodox Faith in Greece, Protector of Liberty, Prince of Denmark

Greek: Η Μεγάλη και Υπέροχη Μεγαλειότητα του, Με τη Χάρη του Παντοδύναμου Θεού και τον Χριστό Σωτήρα μας, τον Κωνσταντίνο τον Δεύτερο, τον Βασιλιά των Ελλήνων και άλλων Ελληνικών Λαών, τον Ανώτατο Αρχηγό της Εκκλησίας της Ελλάδος, τον Υπερασπιστή της Ελληνικής Ορθόδοξης Πίστης στην Ελλάδα, τον Προστάτη Liberty, πρίγκιπας της Δανίας

As a male-line descendant of King Christian IX of Denmark, he is also a Prince of Denmark.

Honors: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Redeemer
Sovereign Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Saints George and Constantine
Sovereign of the Order of Saints Olga and Sophia
Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the Order of George I
Knight Grand Cross of Order of the Phoenix
Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of Order of Beneficence
Recipient of the Commemorative Badge of the Centenary of the Royal House of Greece

List of Monarchs of Greece

House of Wittelsbach

The London Conference of 1832 was an international conference convened to establish a stable government in Greece. Negotiations between the three Great Powers (United Kingdom, France, and Russia) resulted in the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece under a Bavarian Prince. The decisions were ratified in the Treaty of Constantinople later that year.

The convention offered the throne to the Bavarian Prince, Otto. They also established the line of succession which would pass the crown to Otto's descendants or his younger brothers should he have no issue. It was also decided that in no case would there be a personal union of the crowns of Greece and Bavaria.

House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

In October 1862, King Otto was deposed in a popular revolt, but while the Greek people rejected Otto, they did not seem averse to the concept of monarchy per se. Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, the United Kingdom, rallied around the idea that Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, could become the next King. British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were "panting for an increase in territory", hoping that the election of Alfred as King would also result in the incorporation of the Ionian Islands, which were then a British protectorate, into an enlarged Greek state.

The London Conference of 1832, however, had prohibited any of the Great Powers' ruling families from accepting the crown of Greece, and in any event, Queen Victoria was adamantly opposed to the idea. Nevertheless, the Greeks insisted on holding a referendum on the issue of the head of state in November 1862. It was the first referendum ever held in Greece.

Prince Alfred turned down the Kingship and Prince William of Denmark, son of Prince Christian of Denmark, was elected by the National Assembly to become King George I of the Hellenes.

Second Hellenic Republic

The Second Republic was proclaimed on 25 March 1924, in the aftermath of Greece's defeat by Turkey in the Asia Minor Campaign, which was widely blamed on the royalist government. During its brief existence, the Second Republic proved unstable. Greek society continued to be divided, as it was since the National Schism, between the pro-Republican Venizelists and the monarchists represented by the People's Party, who refused to acknowledge even the legitimacy of the Republic.

The cleavage in society extended to cultural and social issues such as differences over the use of Greek language to architectural styles. To this polarization was added the destabilizing involvement of the military in politics which resulted in several coups and attempted coups. The economy was in ruins following a decade of warfare and was unable to support the 1.5 million refugees from the population exchange with Turkey.

Despite the efforts of the reformist government of Eleftherios Venizelos in 1928–1932, the Great Depression had disastrous impact on Greece's economy. The electoral victory of the People's Party in 1933, and two failed Venizelist coups, paved the way to the restoration of the reign of King George II.

House of Glücksburg (restored)

In 1935, Prime Minister Georgios Kondylis, a former pro-Venizelos military officer, became the most powerful political figure in Greece. He compelled Panagis Tsaldaris to resign as Prime Minister and took over the government, suspending many constitutional provisions in the process. Kondylis, who had now joined the Conservatives, decided to hold a referendum in order to re-establish the monarchy, despite the fact that he used to be a supporter of the anti-monarchist wing of Greek politics.