Former King Constantine II of Greece passed away yesterday at the age of 82 after facing prolonged and chronic health problems.
Born in 1940, Constantine became king in 1964. Three years after rising to power, the Colonels instead came to power in a coup. After the counter-movement against the Junta, which went down in history as the Royal Movement, Constantine was exiled.
In 1974, when the referendum was announced for the Greek people to choose the government they wanted, the former king delivered a sermon from London, where he was at that time. It was also his last political speech.
"The King should not be afraid of the judgment of the People when he actually has a clear conscience, that he has fulfilled his debt," former King Constantine is heard to say.
In 1974, after the restoration of democracy, the referendum on December 8 took place, in which the electorate voted in favour of an unreigned republic (3,245,111 votes in favour of the unreigned republic, a rate of 69.18% and 1,445,875 votes in favour of a monarchical republic, a percentage of 30.82%).
Watch the video of Constantinos' speech on November 26, 1974, a few days before the referendum.
Constantine will most likely be buried in Tatoi unless the family decides otherwise. Notably, Queen Frederica was also buried there, who died in 1981, in much more complex political circumstances and with fresh memories of the referendum on the State.
A week ago, close relatives of Constantinos, his sons Nikolaos and Pavlos, were in Maximos to discuss the case. They were accompanied by the lawyer Konstantinos Lidorikis, who handles cases of the former royal family.
Regarding the funeral of the former King Constantine, in an inter-ministerial meeting under the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the following were decided:
- The ex-King will be buried as a private citizen,
- The burial will take place near his ancestors in Tatoi,
- In consultation between the government and the family, the Church will be designated in which the Mass will take place,
- The government will be represented at the funeral by the Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni,
- All the procedures provided by the Protocol for the officials from abroad who will attend the funeral will be observed.
The former king Constantine Glücksburg passed away on Tuesday night at the age of 82. Recently, he was hospitalised in the intensive care unit of "Health".
Shortly before the former monarch died, his daughter-in-law Tatiana Blatnik published a related video in her stories on Instagram.
The wife of his son Nikolaos visited the Cathedral of Athens and lit a candle to pray.
In the video, she posted she wrote: "The power of prayer."
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