King Constantine II of Greece

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Happy Birthday to King Constantine of Greece! The only son of then Crown Prince Paul of Greece and Princess Frederica of Hanover, his older sister is Queen Sofia of Spain, and the younger sister is Princess Irene. Spending WWII in South Africa, in 1947, his uncle died, and his father succeeded to the throne, making him Crown Prince Constantine. Educated in Athens, he competed in the 1960 Rome Olympics, winning the Gold Medal in Sailing, and is an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee.

In 1964, King Paul died suddenly, and he succeeded to the throne as King Constantine II of Greece. Later that year, King Constantine married 18-year old Princess Anne Marie of Denmark, his childhood sweetheart. The couple have five children; Crown Prince Pavlos, Princess Alexia, Prince Nikolaos, Prince Philippos, and Princess Theodora, and nine grandchildren. In April 1967, a group of colonels overthrew the democratic government, and established a military junta. After the King led a failed counter-coup later that year, the Royal Family were forced to flee to Rome.

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In 1973, a referendum abolished the Monarchy. The Royal Family moved to London. A close friend of his British Royal cousins, the King is a godfather of the Prince of Wales. The Prince, in turn, is a godfather of King Constantine’s eldest grandson, Prince Constantine Alexios, a son of Crown Prince Pavlos. King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie have regularly attend Royal Events in Denmark, Spain, the UK, Sweden, and Norway, where the monarchs are their relatives. Not allowed to enter the country for many years, King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie moved back to Greece in 2012, where they reside in Porto Heli.

King Constantine II of Greece passed away at the age of 82 in January 2023, one day short of the centenary of the death of his namesake Grandfather, King Constantine I of Greece.

   

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3 thoughts on “King Constantine II of Greece

  1. Hello there, I discovered your website by the use of Google while searching for a similar matter, your site got here up, it seems to be good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.

  2. I had the pleasure of meeting you onboard the yacht Fortuna along with Juan Carlos and your sister Sophia while cruising from Majorca in the 80’s on sea trials along with their children. What a weekend and a great pleasure for me. Happy Birthday & many more!

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