Constantine II of Greece

Constantine II (born 2 June 1940) reigned as king of Greece, from 6 March 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy on 1 June 1973.

Constantine is the only son of King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece. As his family was forced into exile during the Second World War, he spent the first years of his childhood in Egypt and South Africa. He returned to Greece with his family in 1946 during the Greek Civil War which was being thought between the royal Greek government and communist. King George II died in 1947, and Constantine's father became the new king, making Constantine the crown prince.

As crown prince, Constantine was a competitive sailor and Olympian, winning a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics in the Dragon class, and later serving on the International Olympic Committee. Along with his fellow crew members of the Nireus sailing vessel, he was named one of the 1960 Greek Athletes of the Year.

He acceded as king in 1964 following the death of his father, King Paul. Later that year he married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark with whom he eventually had five children. Although the accession of the young monarch was initially regarded auspiciously, his reign saw political instability that culminated in a military coup on 21 April 1967 when a group colonels overthrew the government. The coup left Constantine, as the head of state, little room to manoeuvre since he had no loyal military forces on which to rely. As a result, he reluctantly agreed to inaugurate the junta on the condition that it be made up largely of civilian ministers.

On 13 December 1967, Constantine was forced to flee the country, following an unsuccessful countercoup against the junta. He remained (formally) the head of state in exile until the junta abolished the monarchy on 1 June 1973. The 1973 Greek republic referendum on 29 July, ratified the abolition by a margin of 78.57% to 21.43%. There were questions concerning the validity of this referendum and whether people were pressured to vote for a republic. Therefore a fresh referendum was held after the restoration of democracy in 1974.

This second referendum was held after the fall of the military junta on 8 December 1974 and confirmed the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Third Hellenic Republic by a margin of 69.2% to 30.8%. Constantine, who had been disadvantaged in the campaign by being banned from returning to Greece to campaign, nonetheless accepted the results of the plebiscite.

Having lived in Rome since he was forced to flee Greece on 13 December 1967, in 1974 King Constantine moved to England where after a short period living in Chobham, Surrey, he set up residence in Hampstead, London. In 2013, Constantine returned to reside in Greece. He and his wife Anne-Marie purchased a villa in Porto Cheli, Peloponnese residing there until they relocated to Athens in the spring of 2022.