Greece’s former King Constantine II died late on Tuesday at the age of 82.
Born on June 2, 1940, in Athens, he ascended the throne on March 6, 1964, at the age of 24, succeeding his father, Paul I, after his death. In September of the same year, he married the then Princess of Denmark, Anna Maria, with whom he had three sons and two daughters.
His reign was marred by political instability which let to a military coup on April 21, 1967. After leading an unsuccessful countercoup against the then military junta, he was forced to flee the country. He remained in Rome until the junta abolished the monarchy in 1973.
In a referendum called by a national unity government led by Konstantinos Karamanlis after the fall of the junta in 1974, Greeks rejected monarchy again and striped him of his citizenship.
In 2002, he was compensated with 13.7 million euros for his former property in Greece which includes the Tatoi palace estate and a villa in Corfu after he had appealed to the European Court of Justice.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
