A king without a kingdom, who lived in exile for 46 years, maintained his marriage to Queen Anne-Marie for over five decades, becoming a father of five and grandfather of nine. What explains the prominence of his death and life story in the Danish press?
A king without a throne
Constantine (or Constantine) became King of Greece at the age of 24 and sat on the throne for ten years until April 1967, when officers in the Greek army seized power in a coup and the king fled Greece, where he spent more than four decades in exile. He was also stripped of his Greek citizenship and the former royal family’s properties, such as palaces, castles, and other real estate, were seized.
Former King Constantine had met Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, the younger sister of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, when Anne-Marie was 13 years old in 1959, during the many trips he took with his father and mother, the King and Queen of Greece, to visit many royal families in Europe. He later married her when she was 18. Constantine was the only son of King Pavlos and Queen Frederica of Greece, and he had two sisters: the older sister Sofia, who later became Queen of Spain when she married Juan Carlos, and the younger sister Irene, who was born in 1942.
As for his early childhood, he was still in a baby carriage when he first fled with his family during World War II in April 1941, when the Greek royal family was evacuated to the island of Crete, then they fled to the city of Alexandria in Egypt, and then to South Africa.
The second escape in the life of the late King Constantine was after the Greek army revolted against their king Constantine. The king tried to stage a counter-coup, but failed, and then he and Queen Anne-Marie, the younger sister of Queen Margaret of Denmark, were forced into exile.
After the coup and the establishment of the democratic system, a referendum was held in Greece in 1974 and it was decided to abolish the monarchy.
وعلى الرغم من أنه أدرك في النهاية أن عرش اليونان قد فُقد إلى الأبد، إلا أنه لم يفقد الأمل في العودة إلى وطنه، وكان يقول: “ولدت يونانياً وسأموت يونانياً”، حيث اكد ذلك في عام 2002 وقال بأنه سيعود إلى وطنه من المنفى، وهو ما تحقق بالفعل في عام 2013، وأصبح وعده حقيقة واقعة.
The couple returned to Greece, where they stayed in three different places until the death of King Constantine yesterday, Tuesday, at the age of 82.
Before becoming king, Constantine excelled as a sailor. At the 1960 Olympic Games, when he was Crown Prince, he won an Olympic gold medal in Rome. That was in 1960, and he returned to Greece on a sailboat. He once said that this victory was the greatest of his life until his engagement to Princess Anne-Marie, when he felt an even greater victory.
He was also the godfather of the British Prince William, by virtue of his residence in Britain in an area in North London.
An overview of the life of the late former King Constantine:
- Constantine was born in 1940 to King Pavlos I and Queen Frederica. Shortly after his birth, the family fled Athens for Alexandria due to World War II. They later fled the country to South Africa.
- في عام 1946 عادت العائلة إلى اليونان، وفي العام التالي توفي عم قسطنطين – الملك جورج الثاني – وتولى والده العرش.
- On March 6, 1964, his father, King Pavlos I, died and Constantine ascended the throne.
- حكم الملك قسطنطين الثاني اليونان في الفترة 1964 – 1974.
- On September 18, 1965, he married Princess Anne-Marie, the younger sister of Queen Magritte of Denmark and Princess Benedict, in a grand wedding ceremony in Athens, thus making their younger sister Anne-Marie Queen of Greece.
- Constantine and Anne-Marie were forced to leave the country in 1967 after a failed counter-coup against the military that had seized power in the country.
- When democracy was established in 1974 after seven years of military dictatorship, the monarchy in Greece was abolished in a referendum.
- However, the former king refused to give up the title, because the king is king for life.
- Former King Constantine and former Queen Anne Marie lived together in Rome, London, and now Greece. Recently, they moved from the Peloponnese to Athens so that Constantine could be closer to the hospitals.
- Constantine and Annemarie had five children: Pavlos, Alexia, Nicholas, Theodora, and Philippos, as well as nine grandchildren.
- Constantine and Anne-Marie have visited Denmark on various occasions, one of which was recently to celebrate Queen Margrethe II’s birthday. Danish media published photos of Queen Margrethe with her brother-in-law the King and his wife, the Queen’s sister.
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