The 121st International Olympic Committee Congress kicked off yesterday, with a luncheon hosted by HM Queen Margrethe II and the Opening Ceremony at the elegant Copenhagen Opera House.

Click to see the image at Belga

The day began with an early afternoon lunch at Amalienborg Palace, which was hosted by the Queen for the visiting IOC delegations from Spain, the US, Brazil and Japan. TRH Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary attended the luncheon and were on hand to greet their VIP guests. And VIP these guests were: TM King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, First Lady Michelle Obama, HE President da Silva of Brazil and HE Yoshiro Mori, the former Prime Minister of Japan.

Click to see the image at ESPN

It was the first meeting of the American First Lady and the Danish royals, while the Spanish King and Queen greeted Queen Margrethe and her family as old friends would: with hugs and kisses (and a curstey from the Crown Princess). The Brazillian President has also met the royal family before, paying a state visit to Denmark two years ago. A group photo was taken in Christian VII’s Palace before the lunch began.

That evening, the glamour came out to play. The Congress’ Opening Ceremony was held at the Copenhagen Opera House, and was attended by the IOC members (royal members include HRH The Princess Royal and HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco), the members of the candidate city delegations and the Danish royal family. Read more…

JessRulz Danish Royals Constantine II, IOC, King Juan Carlos, Margrethe II, Michelle Obama, President da Silva, Prince Frederik, Princess Mary, Queen Sofia

Photo: Rex Features

On Friday August 21, King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie, along with their son Crown Prince Pavlos and his wife, Crown Princess Marie-Chantal, and their daughter Princess Alexia and her husband Carlos Morales, attended the Athens and Epidaurus Festival in Greece.

The Athens and Epidaurus Festival is a long-running festival that celebrates the arts. The Athens Festival has been running for 52 summers in the Greek capital. It features theatre, music, and dance. The Epidaurus Festival began in 1938, and features classical Greek theatre productions. The festival has attracted renowned performers of the stage such as Maria Callas, Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Martha Graham, and the Peking Opera. On Friday evening, the Greek royals attended a performance of William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale”.

It has been a busy summer for the former king, who is looking well-rested since his heart operation in May of this year. The former king and his wife made a lovely couple as they walked hand-in-hand during the festival. They were accompanied by their older children and their respective spouses. This is not the only public event for the Greek royals in Greece this summer. Earlier this month, Pavlos and Marie-Chantal christened their youngest son, Aristides Stavros, at Aghioi Anargiroi monastery near the seaside town of Ermioni.

For more information about the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, please visit this website.

To read about, and to discuss the Greek Royal Family, please visit this thread.

sgl Greek Royals Carlos Morales Quintana, Constantine II, Prince Pavlos, Princess Alexia of Greece, Princess Marie-Chantal, Queen Anne-Marie

Click to see the Belga images

The long-awaited christening of Prince Aristides Stavros, the youngest son of Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie Chantal, took place on August 6.

The baby Prince, who is the youngest grandchild of King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, was christened in Aghioi Anargiroi monastery near the town of Ermioni. Members of the  Greek Royal Family and some of their closest relatives from other Royal Families, including Queen Sofia of Spain, Infanta Elena, Infanta Cristina and their children, attended the ceremony.
King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie looked overjoyed: indeed, this was one of the first happy family events for the former King after the serious operation he has recently undergone.

Like all his siblings, the little Prince was christened in a Greek Orthodox ceremony.

Prince Aristides was born on June 29, 2008 in Los Angeles. He has an older sister, Princess Maria-Olympia, and three older brothers, Prince Constantine Alexios, Prince Achileas-Andreas and Prince Odysseas-Kimon. The christening was presumably delayed because of King Constantine’s health problems and subsequent surgery.

Visit the christening thread for more information and pictures.

Marsel Greek Royals Christening, Constantine II, Prince Aristides-Stavros, Prince Pavlos, Princess Marie-Chantal, Queen Anne-Marie

Greece’s Former King, Constantine II, is now out of the Intensive Care Unit at Wellington Hospital and in a private room according to a message posted to the family’s site.  The June 3 update says the King “ is surrounded by family and is recovering satisfactorily.”

The King is recovering from a scheduled open heart surgery and has had visits from his sisters Queen Sophia of Spain and Princess Irene of Greece.  The Queen’s visit caused quite a bit of press after she chose a budget Ryanair flight for the visit over expensive travel. Photos from the visit are available in the this current events thread.

It is expected that once the King is discharged in the coming week that another bulletin will be posted to the official website from the King’s Office.

Sg1Fan Greek Royals Constantine II, Princess Irene of Greece

Click to see the images from Hola!

  Last Sunday, May 31, Queen Sofia and her sister Princess Irene of Greece flew from Santander, where the Queen was attending the celebration of the Spanish Armed Forces Day, to London on board a Ryanair flight to visit their brother Constantine II, Former King of Greece.

King Constantine is recovering from a heart operation in the Intensive Care Unit at Wellington hospital.

Paty Greek Royals, Spanish Royals Constantine II, Hospital, Princess Irene of Greece, Queen Sofia, Surgery

Click to see the image from Zimbio

Constantine II, Former King of Greece, is recovering in a London hospital from a successful scheduled heart operation.  An announcement on the family’s website, signed “Anne-Marie R” expresses gratitude for the well wishes and congratulations to the surgical team. “The messages of support, which we have been receiving from Greece and other parts of the world, have touched us all,” she notes.  The announcement also includes a brief progress statement from the Former King’s physician team.

The Former King, as expected, is recovering in the Intensive Care Unit at Wellington Hospital without any cardioventillatory support. No release date information was provided.

Further information, when available will be posted in this current events thread.

Sg1Fan Greek Royals Constantine II, Queen Anne-Marie, Surgery

In a surprising announcement this morning, King Constantine’s London office announced via the family’s website that King Constantine II, Former King of Greece, will be undergoing ‘elective’ heart surgery on May 29 at Wellington Hospital, London.

The announcement stated:

His Majesty King Constantine [Former King of Greece] is scheduled to undergo elective cardiac surgery for calcific aortic stenosis with valve replacement using a bioprosthesis and a single-vessel bypass… and will be performed by Professor Gilles D. Dreyfus…Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon & the Director of Transplantation at Harefield Hospital and Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery at Imperial College, London.

Click to see more at Zimbio.com

In layman’s terms, one of the King’s arteries has become blocked or narrowed by cholesterol and is unable to properly send blood between the heart and the lungs.  This correction involves surgically cutting the artery at the blockage and rerouting blood flow.  At the same time, he will be having one of the four valves of the heart replaced.  The replacement, a bioprosthesis, will be made from one of three possible grafts – animal tissue, human tissue of a donated heart or rarely a patient’s own tissue. Patients with bioprosthesis usually do not need to take blood-thinning medicines but these valves are not as strong as mechanical valves and often need to be replaced every 10 years or so.  

Although both procedures are fairly common, they are not without risks. During surgery, patients are most often placed on a “heart and lung machine” so that the heart and lungs can be stopped for the entirety of the procedure. Patients are usually closely monitored for the first few days after surgery in an Intensive Care Unit to ensure there are no post surgical complications.

The Wellington Hospital, a private hospital in London, has one of the top Intensive Care Units (likely where King Constantine will recover post surgery) and has a well respected specialty cardiac unit.

Information, when available will be posted in this current events thread.

Sg1Fan Greek Royals Constantine II, Health, Hospital, Surgery

Click Here to Read the Article from The Independent

 In today’s world, where monarchies are the exception rather than the norm, the question of the relevancy of royalty often comes up. And just as the governments throughout the world are diverse in their styles of governing, so are the duties of the various royal families. Some serve as a figurehead, with minimal legislative duties, such as King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, while others exercise absolute rule over their kingdoms, such as King Mswati III of Swaziland.

The topic of the role and relevancy of royalty, specifically European royalty, has been in the media lately. Earlier this month, Parade Magazine featured a story about Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. The article introduced the royal couple, and briefly discussed their roles and future in Denmark.

The British newspaper The Independent compares and contrasts the roles of the European monarchs in a recent article. It also examines the role currently being played by royals from countries that no longer have a monarchy, such as King Constantine of Greece. Arguments on both sides of the issue of the future of monarchy in Europe are discussed.

The subject of monarchy is always a hot topic, and will no doubt continue to inspire debate.

For more information and discussion about the royal families of Europe, please visit the forums and see this article at The Royal Articles.

sgl Uncategorized Carl XVI Gustaf, Constantine II, Monarchy, Mswati III, Prince Frederik, Princess Mary

Click here to read more at La Familia Real de Grecia (in Spanish)

Last Thursday, the former king and queen of Greece paid a visit to the isle of Crete, where they caught up with friends, and enjoyed the beauty of the the island. It has been 40 years since Constantine’s last visit to Crete, and he reminisced about his previous visit, while taking a keen interest in seeing how the island had changed.

In addition to sightseeing, Constantine and Anne-Marie enjoyed spending time with their friend, the former Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis and his family. Despite the political connections of the group, the visit was purely for catching up with old friends, according to the blog, La Familia Real Grecia. It is not known whether the former king and queen will spend the Orthodox Easter in Greece, or back in England, where they currently reside.

For all of the latest information about the Greek Royal Family, please visit the forum.

sgl Greek Royals Constantine II, Crete, Queen Anne-Marie

 His Majesty King Constantine II, Former King of Greece, Queen Anne-Marie and Princess Irene held a private memorial service for King Paul and Queen Frederika of Greece on March 15 at the royal family’s former estate of Tatoi.

King Pavlos and Queen Frederika had three children, King Constantine, Queen Sophia of Spain and Princess Irene.  Members of the both the Spanish and Greek sides of the royal family attended a similar service in 2006. His Majesty King Pavlos passed away on March 6th, 1964 in Greece while her Majesty Queen Frederica on February 6th, 1981 in Spain.  They are buried next to each other, with many other members of the family, on the former royal estate.  The cemetary remains open to members of the royal family for burial and the last burial at Tatoi was that of Princess Katherine in October 2007.

This year’s service included the laying of wreaths on the tombs from all the members of the Greek and Spanish royal families.  The wreaths, in the colors of the respective royal flags held the initials of the members of the families with a crown.

Since their return to Greece as private citizens, King Constantine has held the ceremony yearly and made “the tradition of inviting his parents’ members of staff, in whatever capacity, in a gesture to show his gratitude and respect for their loyalty and service.”

Photos posted with permission.

Sg1Fan Greek Royals Constantine II, Memorial, Princess Irene of Greece, Queen Anne-Marie, Tatoi