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Greece’s former king Constantine has died. Here he is pictured together with his wife, the Danish princess Anne-Marie, when they celebrated their golden wedding in 2014. Archive image.
1 of 2 Photo: Petros Giannakouris/AP/TT
The former Greek king Constantine has died in Athens.
Constantine — who was King Constantine II from 1964 to 1973 — had been in intensive care for several days and most of his family were present at his deathbed.
Konstantin gained international attention when, in 1967, he tried to help overthrow the military junta that was then in power in Greece. The attempt failed and Constantine went into exile. In 1974, the monarchy was abolished in Greece through a referendum, which the king then explicitly accepted.
In 1964, Konstantin married the Danish princess Anne-Marie, sister of Denmark’s Queen Margrethe and cousin of Sweden’s Carl XVI Gustaf. After many years in exile, Konstantin and Anne-Marie moved back to Greece as private individuals nearly ten years ago. Their eldest son Pavlos is formally crown prince to the non-existent throne.
Constantine, who has not wanted to renounce the title of king and take an ordinary surname, has family ties that extend to several great princely and royal houses in Europe. His sister Sofia is Queen Mother of Spain. The siblings are triplets of Britain’s King Charles III.
Konstantin was 82 years old.