The position of the Royal Family and attitudes to restoration

[Cory]

I noticed King Konstantinos II is received with much warmth everywhere in Greece.Nobody sees in that a sign for a possible return of Monarchy in the future?

 

[Vlaha Karatsokaros]

After so many years since the change of polity, people do not even remember events of the past. Why should people be hostile to him?

Then again, the monarchy enjoys the same popularity as the Communist party jointly with other left groups,, approximately 10-12%, according to some polls.

 

[Nikolopoulus]

The monarchy has not been studied in schools with the objectivity that this required, Obviously this is a long time since the school instilled a negative view of the monarchy which is obviously not going to change. And yet the political dynasty in power,they inherit the office of their predecessor(from father to sons), authentic incompetent who only care about power and keep power in our country , they are not see with a negative vision.

 

[roimat]

I think that it happened only twice in al history of the GRF

- King Alexandros and Aspasia Manou (1919)
- Prince Michael of Greece and Marina Karella (1965)

The two girls of Prince Michel de Grece being both married, the only remaining chances to see a Greek Royal marrying a Greek are Prince Philippos and Princess Theodora.

Not only two...If i can remember right, princess Eleni, who was grand duchess of Russia, married admiral Ioannidis, and they are buried both in Tatoi. Also princess Cathrine, who married an Englishman named Brandam, she died in 2007.

 

[Kozani1940]

Are the Greek People more sympathetic towards the Greek Royal family these days due to the current lack of trust towards the politicians?
Is HM King Constantine more popular due to this?


The monarchy in Greece would be great for this country after what the Politicians have managed to do in the last 40 years. What does the new generation have to look forwrd to? Politicians that are so corrupted and that have brought the cradle of democracy to shame. What does Papoulias do for the nation? HM King Constantine ii brought so much publicity to Spetses with the wedding of his son. These families draw attention to a nation. Take the british Royal Wedding for example, they generated revenue of almost 1 billion dollars. What revenue is Papoulias going to raise? Papandreou will only raise revenue by selling off state assets. I say Bring Back the Royal family... They will do good as symbolic heads of state...

 

[Filipposathens]

I and my family are monarchical. For many years in Greece has had a major political corruption and bad politicians, as explained Nikolopoulus. We have seen such corruption as normal because our family economy, our daily life was not affected by this, we have not given much importance to it .The crisis that we are suffering is very serious, owe much money to other countries, investors go of the country, and now our country has to make major changes in administration and public finance, these reforms will require sacrifices for all Greeks. Now , we apreciate that the political corruption that we saw as normal had had its effects on our economy and that was hurting us all(Now but no before) . Now we express against our politicians ( politicians dynasties ) that for many years have done this, have caused this debt, have meant that our investors will leave the country. This is the cause that many people are sympathetic to the monarchy, because for many years, Greek politicians and media have lashed out against the monarchy, and proof of this, is the graveyard of Tatoi. Buried in this cemetery are former heads of state, but the politicians have done everything possible to they were not considered like heads of state.They have done everything possible change the story of Greece, with the objective that the from royal family were saw as foreigners who invaded Greece, and never had popular support, They have denied that the monarchy was who gave the territorial extension to Greece that has today......in conclusion have done everything possible to eliminate the monarchy of the history of greece. the comunist party can not be compared with the monarchy, the Communist Party has had coverage in all the Greek media have their own media and very few Greek media lash out against them. They have representation in the Greek Parliament even some Greek governments have been formed with its support. There can not be compared. I think today in Greece has increased supporters to the ancient kings and their children, .... . I am monarchical and realistic, I think that this people sympathize to the monarchy because it is a means to demonstrate their discontent with the current " political dynasties" . I am a monarchist and I believe in the monarchy I think this could be very beneficial to Greece, because the monarchy can be a great attraction for investment in the country. I see this in other European countries, but this is my opinion

 

[Kozani1940]

I agree with you. It would be very adventageous for Greece to become a kingdom again. I have been gone from Greece for many years, I return every second year for 3 or 4 months and still have people in my village that support the monarchy. I live in Australia and we are part of the commonwealth with Queen Elizabeth II as our Head of State. People here young and old have the right to support a monarchy or republic. The vast majority support the monarchy and to tell you whenever there's a royal visit people come out in the thousands. When magazines have a royal feature they all sell out. Greece must let go of this negative attitude and move forward. Some type of movement needs to be pushed to educate people on the benifits of a monarchy.

 

[snowflower]

I don't want to get political and out of topic here because I don't want the moderators to have to delete posts in this thread once again but I have to say that I don't agree with the posters who believe that Monarchy can change the political climate and the problems of the political system. Greece foes not face internal problems because the country is a presidential parliamentary democracy instead of a crowned parliamentary democracy but because people have problems with the current political parties , the people who form them and their current policies and and programmes. The problems are not in the level of the Head of state , but in the level of the Parliament, therefore I cannot see how a change in level of the Head of state( a returm of the monarchy) would solve them.

 

[Filipposathens]

I have expressed my opinion and you expressed yours, I think the figure of the President of the Republic is more than questionable and I'm not the only Greek who thinks so, also there are people loyal to the Republic who criticize this position, including the medium used for your choice.

 

[NotHRH]

I and my family are monarchical...

EYou have such great pride for your native country of Greece. You stated that are a 'monarchist' and have much faith that hopefully Greece's king will be restored to his throne.
Constantine and his family have only their best interests in mind. Not Greece's or your best interests, but simply for their own interests (=money). Constantine always asks for empathy and sympathy from other royals and his ex-citizens. To him, you would be just a 'face in the crowd.' If Constantine does not have only his family's interests and monetary gain on his radar, why would he want to return to his
native Greece to become king - again? Money does indeed make the world go 'round.'

 

[Filipposathens]

I believe in the monarchy. Am I committing a crime? Did the President of the Republic earn a salary? . I think there are enough interviews the King and his sons to know about their opinion. Here I have spoke about my opinion. My opinion is protected by the right to liberty of expression, and not commit a crime to say that I believe in the monarchy, and I have the good fortune to know them, by it offends me even more read you words. Greece is my native country and the country where I live now.You're surprised that there are people who live in Greece and we believe in the monarchy and it is obvious that you do not like.

 

[Odette]

EYou have such great pride for your native country of Greece. You stated that are a 'monarchist' and have much faith that hopefully Greece's king will be restored to his throne.
Constantine and his family have only their best interests in mind. Not Greece's or your best interests, but simply for their own interests (=money). Constantine always asks for empathy and sympathy from other royals and his ex-citizens. To him, you would be just a 'face in the crowd.' If Constantine does not have only his family's interests and monetary gain on his radar, why would he want to return to his
native Greece to become king - again? Money does indeed make the world go 'round.'

I strongly disagree with your point of vue.
The royal family from the time of George the 1st and Olga did nothing but provide through their funds and support themselves. Their civil list throughout their time of service was paltry. Please look into history from the establishment of the modern monarchy to its demise in 1967.
Since then, K Constantine has not interfered and did not take advantage of the confusion that regned after the fall of the Junta. If his position and throne were his main interest he would have been standing next to Karamanlis waving at the crowds. Greeks were receptive at that point to accept anyone who would push the Junta even further into the background.
Money may make the world go round but in his case it never seemed to be the moving force behind his actions.

 

[Cory]

Today King Konstantinos II seems quite respected by the people in Greece.

 

[Nikolopoulus]

King George and Queen Olga and the Board has no relation to the current crisis !!!!! ... This is the last thing I expected to read ...... King George and Queen Olga, the board and all blame for the current crisis. King George and Queen Olga of Greece had much to Greece . First, the union of the Ionian Islands to Greece, the liberalization of Thessalinika and union of the north to Greece. Greece had no money when King George came, he brought funds from Denmark and do not forget investment of the Russian royal family. Finally, I want to remind the King in Xania interview, he clearly said, I don´t work in politics. and the interview in Messenia, I think there is the opinion of the King. I'm agree with Filippos, during years we have not seen bad the corruption of our politicians, but now this corruption has ruined us. The European union will give us another loan but to deal with our creditors we have to sell some of our heritage and see as we will have to make a great effort to get out of this crisis . Where is the public money????

 

[Cory]

Maybe the people will want the abolition of the republic after such a big crisis.

 

[snowflower]

I strongly disagree, but even if somehow the majority wanted the monarchy to return , this is certainly not easy : in order to legally abolish the republic , the Greeks must abolish the 1975 constitution. In order to abolish the Constitution (apart from the fact that the Parliament needs to find an actual valid reason to do so ) , the goverment must proclaim general elections in order to have a National Assembly formed , and after the National Assembly forms a new Constitution (which does not forbid a change of the form of Government like the current one,) then and only then could a referendum be proclaimed in order for the majority to decide about the from of Government . That is the only right way to do it, and I certainly doubt it would happen, because a) that would need an actual strong active and large monarchist movement to exist - which it doesn't and b) according to various searches, the next election will hardly lead to a strong, one party government , let alone to a strong National Assembly And really ,things are not good here so I doubt that the Greeks would currently allow anyone to go anywhere near the Constitution.

 

[Odette]

King George and Queen Olga and the Board has no relation to the current crisis !!!!! ... This is the last thing I expected to read ...... King George and Queen Olga, the board and all blame for the current crisis. King George and Queen Olga of Greece had much to Greece

Please read my post again, if you are referring to what I wrote.
What I said is that since King George and Queen Olga the monarchs of Greece, received paltry "civil lists" and the original monarchs provided for themselves, while helping Greece with the institutions they established there.
I cannot get into politics and today's state of affaires in Greece but none of the Kings or Queens of Greece can be blamed for any of our current ills...

I strongly disagree, but even if somehow the majority wanted the monarchy to return , this is certainly not easy : in order to legally abolish the republic , the Greeks must abolish the 1975 constitution. In order to abolish the Constitution (apart from the fact that the Parliament needs to find an actual valid reason to do so ) , the goverment must proclaim general elections in order to have a National Assembly formed

In my view the royal question does not even enter in today's reality as it exists in Greece. If the 300 MPs are to do anything constructive about Greece and its people they should look themselves in the mirror first and then take some drastic measures to steer the country in the right (correct) direction. There is so much blame to go around, I am very happy K Constantine and his family cannot be accused of bringing about the current catastrophe.

 

[Cory]

Everybody knows during King Konstantinos reign Greece was in a better situation than today.

 

[BELTRANEJA]

I think the monarchy, or rather the people who make the monarchy, Constantine, Ana Maria, Paul, Nikolaos ........ now there is greater sympathy for them. In September, the manifestation of transportation means, when King Constantine and Anne Marie left the hotel and the demonstrators started applauding ..... I remember a truck driver that said something like, "I am not monarchical but I know that this man has not created this crisis" I don´t know the exact words , I think it can be translate in sympathy .... The restauration is difficult but I understand that Filippos and the monarchical have to defend their opinions , Filippos has your right to express your opinion.

Spain, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Great Britain and others are monarchies and are democracies. Filippos is defending a democratic system, which may be an option, why should be only states with monarchies who have to submit to referendum, the Republic also should be prosecuted in referendum?

 

[Cory]

The reality is that King Konstantinos II and the Royal Family are more and more popular in Greece.This doesn';t mean Monarchy will be restored very soon.

 

[NotHRH]

I was simply stating my words to share with the readers of this forum. Why would one state within their post that their liberty to free speech was being infringed upon? Kings, queens, other certain royal family members (of any country) simply do not live on a 'paltry salary.' 'Royal' and 'paltry,' are contradictory if used in the same breathe and or sentence. Did not Constantine sue Greece's government for 'his' properties/land/real estate in that particular country? Anyway, I was only stating my words about the ex-GRF, and truthfully, I welcome different 'facts' than the ones I have expressed. I am glad quite a few people have responded to this conversation with varying 'facts.' I still do not understand why some of you want to restore a monarchy in Greece - the younger royals do not even know how to speak/read/write the Greek language. This family is not poor in any sense of the word whether you all agree or not. Some in the GRF have a certain agenda that would only serve to increase their status amongst other royals - most of whom are their extended family. What personally would be beneficial to a Greek citizen if the GRF would be restored to the throne?

 

[Sternchen]

Did not Constantine sue Greece's government for 'his' properties/land/real estate in that particular country?

So what? They took away his property, and he wanted to have it back. Same has happened thousands of times all over the world, e.g. when Germany was reunited, a lot of people went to court to get the property of their parents/grandparents back.

 

[stef]

I was simply stating my words to share with the readers of this forum. Why would one state within their post that their liberty to free speech was being infringed upon? Kings, queens, other certain royal family members (of any country) simply do not live on a 'paltry salary.' 'Royal' and 'paltry,' are contradictory if used in the same breathe and or sentence. Did not Constantine sue Greece's government for 'his' properties/land/real estate in that particular country? Anyway, I was only stating my words about the ex-GRF, and truthfully, I welcome different 'facts' than the ones I have expressed. I am glad quite a few people have responded to this conversation with varying 'facts.' I still do not understand why some of you want to restore a monarchy in Greece - the younger royals do not even know how to speak/read/write the Greek language. This family is not poor in any sense of the word whether you all agree or not. Some in the GRF have a certain agenda that would only serve to increase their status amongst other royals - most of whom are their extended family. What personally would be beneficial to a Greek citizen if the GRF would be restored to the throne?

You talk about us like strange people from another planet ... you do not like monarchies, you think they is in power for the money and only money ..... I do not understand to you, you hate the monarchies and you are in into forum that talks about monarchies.

 

[BELTRANEJA]

The right to property is recognized in the declaration of human rights, this is a right of all us. The Human Rights Tribunal is in Strasbourg and all European Union citizens can use it . All states of the European union have been convicted of the Strasbourg court from Sweden, Spain, France, Great Britain and Greece ... Are individual rights we have against the States and that benefits us all, because we have the guarantee of an independent tribunal against abusive political decisions

 

[NotHRH]

So what? They took away his property, and he wanted to have it back. Same has happened thousands of times all over the world, e.g. when Germany was reunited, a lot of people went to court to get the property of their parents/grandparents back.

The mention of Constantine's properties and his real estate was for others to realize that he is not poor. If the properties and real estate were not worth 'a pretty penny,' he would not have gone through the bother to attain his 'belongings' from Greece's government. Also, I do not dislike monarchies. I think it is quite sad that Constantine and some members of his family do not want to realize their status as the ex-royal family of Greece. Why is this fate of the GRF so hard for so many to accept? Again, what benefit is it to the average Greek citizen to restore the GRF? As I stated in a previous post, the average person is only another face in the crowd to them. I am not stating words in my posts to anger anybody. The anger expressed about this subject in other's posts is simply the realization that the GRF will not exist in the not-so-distant future. Why is this fact too hard for some, on a personal basis, to accept? What are the personal benefits, do not include emotions, to Greece's people?

 

[NotHRH]

You talk about us like strange people from another planet ... you do not like monarchies, you think they is in power for the money and only money ..... I do not understand to you, you hate the monarchies and you are in into forum that talks about monarchies.

It seems as though my point in that post was not fully realized. It was not meant to incite any anger from anyone. I do not dislike monarchies at all. Officially, Greece does not have a monarchy. What is the reasoning used for that assumption? Why so much anger expressed in reaction to my post?

 

[stef]

Am I obliged to think like you? In a democracy people can have different ideas, this is democracy, Why do I have to accept what you think?

 

[Sternchen]

The mention of Constantine's properties and his real estate was for others to realize that he is not poor. If the properties and real estate were not worth 'a pretty penny,' he would not have gone through the bother to attain his 'belongings' from Greece's government.

It is not always about monay, but about heritage and family. These properties most propably cost him a lot more money than they earn him. He has to invest into it, and this money has to come from somewhere, too.

 

[NotHRH]

Am I obliged to think like you? In a democracy people can have different ideas, this is democracy, Why do I have to accept what you think?

I am not telling others how they should feel about the GRF. Why do you change the subject and extract a different meaning from my posts on this particular subject? I have never stated in any of my posts how people should feel the GRF, I only state my words for others to read. Why is there so much anger expressed in this forum about the GRF? I still have no answers to the questions I have asked several times. Yes, Constantine's first 3 children were born in Greece, but his last two children and his grandchildren were not. It has been stated many times his latter 2 children and his grandchildren do not speak/read/write in Greek, nor do they consider Greece their homeland. The truth sometimes stings - reality is what it is. Acceptance of a truth is only one of many ways to grieve and come to terms of with a 'death.'

 

[Warren]

The argument that King Constantine is "only in it for the money" is patently absurd and doesn't require a response.
Could members therefore not become distracted by obvious red herrings and keep discussion to within at least a broad range of the thread topic.

Thanks for everyone's patience and understanding.

Warren
RF of Greece moderator