Constantine of Greece and his relationship with Spain: brother of Queen Sofía and one more in Zarzuela

• Relationships The ups and downs of the relationship between Constantine of Greece and his brother-in-law King Juan Carlos: from the summers in Marivent to the Selina Scott fiasco

Just two days before the wedding of Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía in Athens, the then-Prince of Spain put on a kimono, got on the tatami and began a fight with a tough opponent:

his brother-in-law, who died on Tuesday. .

The fight cost Don Juan Carlos a dislocated shoulder and the anecdote serves to illustrate the closeness with which the Spanish and Greek Royal Family have treated each other in the years of life of the late King of the Hellenes.

It is enough to look at Constantine's family tree to see that he was

.

However, the relationship with the Spanish woman was the closest for obvious reasons, since Constantine's older sister became Queen of Spain by her marriage to Don Juan Carlos.

Constantine of Greece and Juan Carlos I had an affinity from the beginning of their courtship with Sofía.

Young people of the same generation

and a passion for sailing, a sport in which Tito, as he was called in the family, won a medal for Greece at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games.

That good treatment with Don Juan Carlos, added to the fraternal union with Doña Sofía, led to frequent trips to Spain since the wedding of the Spanish Emeritus.

Especially since 1967, the year in which the Grecias went into exile and Doña Sofía

to her family.

The closeness was such that Felipe VI and his cousin Pablo, although living in different countries, practically grew up together and when it was time for postgraduate studies they took the same master's degree in Georgetown.

On Catholic Christmas Constantine and his family traveled to Spain and on Orthodox Christmas, Doña Sofía

to celebrate the holidays with her brother.

During the years in which the king of the Hellenes fought to recover his assets in Greece, the family spent the

together with the Bourbons.

There they were treated like kings and enjoyed the sun, the beach and the rides on the Fortuna yacht.

The family relationship was so fluid that the Grecias, led by Constantino, were present at the baptism of all the grandchildren of Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía.

Because if Doña Sofía was used for something after the death of her parents -

in 1964 and

in 1981 - it was to keep her siblings together, to preserve the bond created by their parents.

That is why Irene

and Constantino has always had his house there.

That is why Doña Sofía has been dedicated for years, especially recently, to visiting and accompanying her brother until the end.

On January 5, after her funeral by

she took a flight to Rome to be at the side of Constantine, with whom she has remained until the end.

Accompanying him in her last hours was something necessary for Queen Sofía, who even on two occasions, thinking that Constantine was dying,

.

Now, together with Irene, they fire her brother Tito from her.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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