Greece’s former king Constantine II, who died on Tuesday aged 82, was the last member of a century-long dynasty in power when a brutal army dictatorship seized control of the country in 1967.
A descendant of Denmark’s royal Gluecksburg family, Constantine ascended the throne in 1964 at the age of 23 during one of the most turbulent periods in modern Greek history.
Constantine was less than a year old when his family fled to Egypt to escape the invading Nazis, who occupied Greece until 1944. He was six when they returned to a devastated country.
As crown prince, he was part of a three-man sailing crew that won a gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics, Greece’s first in nearly five decades.
The late Prince Philip — who died in April 2021 at age 99 — was one of Constantine’s uncles, making King Charles III a second cousin of the late Greek monarch. The ruler was also in attendance at his godson’s 2010 royal wedding to Princess Kate.
Constantine’s death comes amid the release of Prince Harry’s debut memoir, Spare, in which he details many controversial moments with the royal family — particularly his difficult relationship with William, 40. Among the Invictus Games’ founder’s numerous claims about the Prince of Wales — whom he calls “Willy” in the book — Harry alleges the future king physically attacked him, encouraged him to wear the infamous Nazi Halloween costume in 2005 and slammed Meghan Markle.
Still styling himself “king”, Constantine battled poor health in recent years.
