Obituary Constantine of Greece, the king who paid with the crown for his serious mistakes
Athens is the scene where the
funeral
and subsequent
burial
of Constantine II, the last king of the Hellenes, takes place this Monday.
A very broad representation of members of royalty will fire one of its most prominent members, despite the fact that he ceased to be
de facto
sovereign in 1974, when Greece adopted the Republic through a referendum, just weeks after the fall of the
Dictatorship of the Colonels
and with the monarch himself exiled in London.
At 12 noon (11 in Spain) the funeral will be officiated in the metropolitan cathedral of Athens, presided over by Archbishop
Jerome II
, the highest authority of the Greek Orthodox Church.
And, among the less than 200 attendees who will follow the ceremony from inside the temple, behind closed doors -a greatly reduced number due to the restrictions of the pandemic-, will be the entire Spanish royal family -the four kings and the
Infantas Elena
and
Cristina
-, the Kings of
Denmark
,
Belgium
,
Sweden
or
the Netherlands
, Grand Duke
Henri of Luxembourg
, Prince
Albert of Monaco
, the heirs of
Norway
,
Anne of England
or Prince
Hassan of Jordan
-brother of the current king-, among many other figures from
Götha
, also including
Alexander of Serbia
,
Margarita of Romania
and presumably
Siméon of Bulgaria
and Empress
Farah Pahlevi
, widow of the last Shah of Persia and a close friend of the entire Greek royal family.
Members of
the International Olympic Committee
, of which Constantine was an honorary member for decades, or a large representation of businessmen and important Greek shipping companies, such as the
Niarchos
, the
Goulandris
or the
Vardinoyannis
, will also attend .
But, in addition to the large gathering of royalty, the farewell to Constantine II is expected to be attended by numerous Greek politicians, including
at least nine current deputies
.
And the same government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis - leader of the conservative New Democracy - has ended up raising its representation by adding to the confirmed attendance from the early hours of the Minister of Culture,
Lina Mendoni
, that of Deputy Prime Minister
Panagiotis Pikrammenos
.
File image of King Constantine, together with his sister Doña Sofía.EFE
And it is that the funeral of Constantine II has ended up turning from the moment in which his death was known last Tuesday into a
real headache for the current Executive
, highly pressured by the proximity of the legislative elections in the country and with a Mitsotakis who has tried to juggle to his right and to his left so as not to snub more conservative formations or centrists, in need of broad support as he is.
Because
the monarchy in the Greek Republic in 2023 is still a very thorny issue
, and everything that has to do with it is politicized and generates great controversy.
NO STATE HONORS
Mitsotakis has refused to give the funeral of the country's last king
statehood or even official rank
.
So that everything develops as if it were the farewell to an anonymous citizen.
And yet, it is obvious that this is a funeral that arouses maximum interest -the country's television stations are expecting great coverage-, and the presence of foreign heads of state in Athens gives the historical event an
extraordinary highlight
.
Mitsotakis has been criticized by numerous political leaders for the stinginess with which the late monarch will be treated by the government.
Without going any further, former Prime Minister
Andonis Samaras
has been especially critical of the current president for his decision, stressing that
"democracies do not silence their past"
.
Prince Paul, together with his brothers Nicholas and Felipe, on Wednesday, after their meeting with the Greek Government. ALEXANDROS BELTESEFE
But the truth is that the Executive's refusal to give the funeral a State character is actually consistent with what has been a history of
unlimited grievances
by the Greek political class towards the royal family, which holds legitimate historical rights.
To the point, do not forget, that despite the fact that the national flag will cover the coffin of Constantine II today, the former king, like all his offspring,
has died without seeing his original nationality recovered
, which was stripped from him through a law that violates international treaties and that the cradle nation of democracy has not amended despite belonging to a club of values and defense of freedoms like the European Union
Once the Monarchy was abolished in 1974, Constantine and his family kept their Greek passport and it was recognized that the family owned assets such as the enormous Tatoi estate -where the royal cemetery is located where he will be buried today, like all his ancestors- .
Although it was of little use to the dethroned monarch since the new democratic authorities prevented Doña Sofía's brother and his children from setting foot in the country.
In fact, when Queen Federica died in 1981, Constantine
could only stay six hours in Athens to bury his mother
, in yet another example of the cruelty of the political class against the dynasty.
A crowd next to the hearse with the remains of Queen Frederica, in 1981.GETTY
Until the early 1990s, there were intense negotiations between the Royal House and the Government to reach an agreement on their properties and other family issues.
But the conflictive Greek politics was postponing the pacts.
And so it came to 1994 when the Government of
Papandreou
approved a law - still in force - by which the former monarch and his offspring were deprived of their original nationality, their passport and their military service record, in addition to
confiscating all their goods in Greece
.
After unsuccessfully resorting to the Hellenic courts, it is known that Constantine, his sister
Irene
and
Princess Catalina
- King Paul's sister - sued the Greek State before the Strasbourg Court, which agreed with them.
Although they would never take their property, instead Athens had to indemnify Constantine with
13 million euros
-of the several hundred in which the seized properties are estimated-.
What the king has never recovered is his nationality.
The authorities forced the royal family to swear to the Constitution,
renounce in public the ideals of a democratic monarchy
and, above all, to assume
a surname that would replace the patronymic of Greece
in exchange for a passport.
The sovereign did not accept it.
And, thus, he has died with a passport from Denmark which, because it is an EU country, has allowed him to live in recent years in his homeland, the one from which he lost everything due to his serious mistakes and which today dismisses him without that the wounds of history have closed.
burning chapel
Between 6 and 10:30 in the morning, citizens will be able to say goodbye to the king in the chapel installed in the Church of San Eleuterio, attached to the Cathedral where the funeral will take place at 12 noon.
no military protocol
Constantine II will be buried in civilian clothes.
There will not be any type of military protocol in the ceremonies, due to the refusal of the Government and the decision of the family.
The coffin will not be carried by the Presidential Guard, the famous Erzones.
Burial
The burial will take place in the royal cemetery of the Tatoi estate, now owned by the Greek State, which gave the cemetery the status of National Heritage.
In recent days restoration and cleaning work has been undertaken.
The royal family has asked that no images of the burial be captured and that it can take place in the strictest privacy.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Greece
Denmark
Real home
Articles Eduardo Alvarez