Greece's former king goes home after 46-year exile
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/greece-former-king-exile-constantine-ii-anne-marie
Constantine II stuns Greeks
by moving back to his crisis-plagued homeland with his wife Anne-Marie
Greeks who have the means may
be leaving in droves, but after 46 years in exile the former king, Constantine
II, has moved back to his crisis-plagued homeland.
The deposed monarch, who was
forced to flee Athens shortly after the seizure
of power by a group of army officers in 1967, has stunned Greeks – and most of
his relatives in the royal households of Europe
– by resettling in the capital where he was born and schooled.
"He and Anne-Marie have
decided to move here permanently," said a member of Greece's small circle of royalists, referring to
Constantine's
Danish-born wife. "His son Prince Nikolaos and his wife Princess Tatiana
made the same move a few months back."
Soaring property prices in London apparently spurred
the move. But Constantine, who was dethroned by referendum on the return of
democracy in 1974 and stripped of his Greek citizenship by the then socialist
government 20 years later, is known to have been homesick.
More than a decade ago he
told a Greek newspaper: "No one can keep me away. For so many years I have
lived through my own Golgotha, now I am ready
to return."
The 73-year-old, a first
cousin of the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince William's godfather, faced the
double whammy of not only being unwanted in his country but also being financially
constricted: in 1994 he suffered the humiliating blow of also seeing his
palaces and other royal estates expropriated in a nation where republicanism
runs deep. The European court of human rights, to which the monarch was
subsequently forced to resort, did little to alleviate his plight when, more
than a decade later, it ruled that the Greek state compensate Constantine for a
fraction of the £320m he had originally sought in damages.
Earlier this year, however, Constantine struck lucky when he sold his north London mansion, his home
for the past 30 years, for £9.5m. By contrast, property prices in Athens have plummeted to
the point where real estate can be acquired for a song: studio flats, should
the ex-king want one, are selling for as little as €6,000 (£5,000) in the city
centre.
"From that point of view
it was considered the very best time for his majesty to not only downsize but
return," said another insider, adding that the royal was sending out
scouts to scour the property market with a view to buying a permanent residence
in Athens.
With Greece mired in a sixth
straight year of recession and unemployment at record heights, an estimated
300,000 Greeks – the vast majority highly qualified professionals – have left
the country since the eruption of its debt crisis. The reversal of that trend
by Constantine, who has still not been forgiven for the support he initially
gave the colonels – the junior army officers who threw the country into seven
harsh years of military rule – is unlikely to be received lightly on the left.
The former monarch, who in
recent months has been spotted cane in hand walking the streets of Athens, has repeatedly
denied political ambitions. Instead he has long maintained that his former
subjects have been "deliberately misinformed".
Constantine's treatment by his homeland has been an ongoing
source of grievance for the British royal family with the Duke of Edinburgh,
who was born on the island
of Corfu, expressing fury
at the way his cousin has been dealt with.
But the new generation of
Greek royals appear to have forgotten the past. Prince Nikolaos, it is said, is
now renting the apartment of the daughter of Andreas Papandreou, the late
socialist leader who gave his father so much grief.
Former King of Greece…..
http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2013071013445/constantine-former-king-of-greece-hospitalised/
photos, greek king Constantine
https://www.google.hr/search?q=greek+king+constantine&client=opera&hs=L0F&channel=suggest&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=5gzXUsiUEYS9ygPvq4CoCQ&ved=0CEIQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=639
Constantine: A King's Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAYHLfv_lo4&feature=related
2004 is the year for Greece as the
Olympics return home this summer. It is also a big year for King Constantine of
Greece
who is re-entering his home-land after the European Courts ended his 36 years
in exile. This documentary is an intimate portrait of the workings of a monarch
in exile, his life in London, his interaction
with other royal families (British, Spanish and others) and his role in
securing the Games for Greece.
Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark Marries
King Constantine of Gree
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqDFVDQvJ_Q
Two weeks after her 18th
birthday, on September 18, 1964, Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark wed King Constantine of Greece in the
Metropolis, the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Athens. On her Royal wedding day,
she became Her Majesty Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.
Greek Royal Wedding - King
Constantine II + Queen Anne Marie pt 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP8CE37TNY8
Greek Royal Wedding - King
Constantine II + Queen Anne Marie pt 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5vJ8aHOqQg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDtB7QHdGOo
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
Anne-Marie was born a
princess of Denmark and is
the youngest daughter of King Frederick IX of Denmark and his wife Ingrid of
Sweden. She is the youngest sister of the reigning Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and cousin of the reigning King Carl XVI
Gustaf of Sweden.
In 1959, at the age of
thirteen, Anne-Marie first met her future husband, her double third cousin,
Crown Prince Constantine of Greece, Prince of Denmark, who accompanied his
parents, King Paul of Greece and Queen Frederika, on a state visit to Denmark.
They met a second time in Denmark
in 1961, when Constantine
declared to his parents his intention to marry Anne-Marie. They met again in Athens in May 1962 at the marriage of Constantine's
sister Sophia to Prince Juan Carlos of Spain at which Anne-Marie was a
bridesmaid: and again in 1963 at the centenary celebrations of the Greek
monarchy.
On 6 March 1964, King Paul
died and Constantine
succeeded him as King of the Hellenes. In July 1964, the announcement of the
engagement of Constantine and Anne-Marie raised the polite protests of the Left
in Denmark.
Anne-Marie and Constantine were married on 18 September 1964 (two weeks after
Anne-Marie's 18th birthday) in the Metropolis, the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of
Athens. The bride wore a Jorgen Bender design.The couple has five children.
Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark
(born 10 July 1965 at Mon Repos, Corfu,
Greece). She
was married on 9 July 1999 in London
to Carlos Morales Quintana. The couple has four children.
Arrietta Morales y de Grecia
(born 24 February 2002 in Barcelona)
Ana María Morales y de Grecia
(born 15 May 2003 in Barcelona)
Carlos Morales y de Grecia
(born 30 July 2005 in Barcelona)
Amelia Morales y de Grecia
(born 26 October 2007 in Spain)
Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, Prince of Denmark (born 20 May 1967 at Tatoi Palace).
He was married on 1 July 1995 in London to
Marie-Chantal Miller, who has been styled thereafter as The Crown Princess
Pavlos of Greece,
Princess of Denmark. The couple has five children.
Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark
(born on 25 July 1996 in New York City).
Among Maria-Olympia's godparents are her paternal aunt, Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark;
her maternal aunt, Pia Getty; the Prince of Wales and Prince Michael of Greece.
Prince Constantine-Alexios of
Greece and Denmark (named after his grandfather; born 29
October 1998 in New York City).
As oldest son and heir, Prince Constantine-Alexios has several royal
godparents: his paternal uncle, Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark; his
maternal aunt, Princess Alexandra von Fürstenberg; his father's cousin, the
Prince of Asturias; his father's cousin, the Crown Prince of Denmark; the Crown
Princess of Sweden; the Duke of Cambridge; and family friend, Doris Robbs.[3]
Prince Achileas-Andreas of Greece and Denmark
(born on 12 August 2000 in New York
City)
Prince Odysseus-Kimon of Greece and Denmark
(born on 17 September 2004 in London)
Prince Aristides-Stavros of Greece and Denmark
(born on 29 June 2008 in Los Angeles)
Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark
(born 1 October 1969 in Rome).
He married Tatiana Blatnik on 25 August 2010 on the Greek island
of Spetses who has been styled
thereafter as Princess Nikolaos of Greece
and Denmark.
Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark
(born 9 June 1983 in London).
Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark
(born 26 April 1986 in London).
Anne-Marie and her husband
Constantine are third cousins: they share King Christian IX of Denmark as
patrilineal great-great-grandfather. They also share Queen Victoria
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as a
great-great-grandmother.
As Queen of Greece,
Anne-Marie spent much of her time working for a charitable foundation known as
"Her Majesty's Fund" which provided assistance to people in rural
areas of Greece.