King Constantine’s 75th Birthday

King Constantine of Greece today celebrates his 75th birthday. He was born the only son of the future King Paul of Greece and his wife, Frederica of Hanover, in 1940.

Due to the Second World War, the young Prince spent his younger years living in Egypt and South Africa before returning to Greece in 1946. He served in the Greek armed forces, and represented his country at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, bringing home a gold medal for the Dragon Class sailing event.

Upon the death of his father on March 6, 1964, Constantine became the King of the Hellenes. His decade-long reign was fraught with difficulty (but then, no Greek King can claim otherwise). A military coup in April 1967 led to the Greek Military Junta, a counter-coup launched by the King in December that year barely got off the ground. The King and his family fled to Rome, and Constantine was officially deposed on June 1, 1973 after a referendum ended the Greek monarchy.

He married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark in September 1964. The couple had five children: Princess Alexia, Crown Prince Pavlos, Prince Nikolaos, Princess Theodora and Prince Philippos.

The former King and his wife lived in England for a number of years after the fall of the monarchy, however they returned to live in Greece in 2013. They currently reside in the resort town Port Cheli.

Filed under Greece
Tagged Birthday, Constantine II of Greece.

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