zarzuela
Nobility
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- May 21, 2005
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Originally published by El Mundo in 1996.
Rough translation by myself.
Seventeen years will have passed when on Monday, the 25th, Sofia, born a Greek, steps again, as a Spanish queen, on the land that saw her born. It’s yet to be seen, even by herself, what will be her fist flashback: that of the sad and dramatic visit in 1981 when she came Greece for the funeral of her mother, or the joyful day of her wedding with Juan Carlos. In Greece, instead, the official position is rather laconic: “Sofia comes back as the Queen of Spain and that’s it”. Greece’s internal politics are none of her business”. Both the Greek and Spanish sides are working for the visit not to turn into a political issue that could annoy the Greeks.
On May 8, Greek newspapers announced the visit of the Spanish King and Queen. It was brief news, no more than 5 or 6 lines where the key points of their visit were highlighted: a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister, with the leaders of the political parties and with representatives of the economy and industries. Unlike what was published in Spanish newspapers, the King will not give a speech in the Greek parliament but he and the Queen will pay a private visit to Tatoi, the place where the tombs of King Paul and Queen Federica are located. The Queen will also visit her old classmates from the Mitera School, which was founded by her own mother, where the Queen studied and worked before getting married. This comeback comes in the frame of a State visit, the first that King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia pay to Greece as monarchs. It is curious to note that in the 23 years of his reign, Greece is the only country in the European Union that the Spanish sovereigns have not yet visited.
GREEK ROOTS.
Greece is a place with several meanings to our Queen. Not only her roots can be traced there but also it’s the place where her parents are buried. Besides, his brother Constantine was the last Greek King until a referendum abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Republic. It is well known the aversion that the recently departed Constantine Caramanlis, the promoter president of the referendum that abolished the monarchy in 1974, felt for all the Greek royal family, but even more for Queen Federica. He prevented that King Constantine, living in exile, came back to Greece. The Greek government has avoided to give publicity to such a delicate issue, especially now that the former King has turned to the Commission of the European Tribunal to appeal the decision of the Greek government that confiscated all his belongings (what he calls his “private fortune”), forbade him to use the title of king and revoked his citizenship, violating the article XV of the Declaration of Human Rights (“Everybody has the right to a citizenship).
For the Greeks, Sofia, besides being the Queen of Spain, is the sister of former King Constantine and the daughter of King Paul and Queen Federica, a woman with an authoritarian and megalomaniac personality that was hated by many politicians and citizens due to her interventions in the Greek political life. Even though the opinion of the Greeks about Queen Sofia is rather neutral, the past of her family and the unfortunate comments by her brother about the Republican regime have always indirectly had an influence on her.
LAVISH WEDDING.
But there was a time in which Sofia had many Greeks on her side: the day of her wedding with the then future King of Spain. In 1962, a year in which Greeks were having many financial difficulties and many were practically forced to emigrate, Queen Frederica demanded the parliament to pass a law that would provide a dowry for Sofia of nine million drachmas, a huge amount of money in those times. On May 14, 1962 there were three weddings celebrated in Athens for Sofia and Juan Carlos: civil, Catholic and Orthodox, but none of the opposition political parties attended the festivities. The lavish ceremony of imperial style, paid with money from the State, had a cost of 75 million drachma. Several princes and kings were invited, and only from Spain more than 3,000 guests were invited.
Two years later Constantine was enthroned upon the death of King Paul. Constantine was only a young 24 years old man with very little experience and was advised by her almighty mother. When the military junta emerged, on April 21 1967, the King signed an agreement with the military and continued to reign until December. It was then that he tried to eliminate the military junta with a coup that was destined to fail because he had very little support from the army. Constantine had no choice but to self-exile and, seven years later, when the military junta came to an end, the Greeks had a referendum in which they chose to have a republic with 64% of the votes. Constantine would never come back to Greece but on two occasions: the funeral of her mother and as a tourist in 1993, the latter caused several reactions among the Greeks.
A DAY IN ATHENS.
Sofia would not come back either. She was in Greece when the junta emerged in 1967 and she came back in June the same year to attend the baptism of her nephew Pavlos. Her visit in 1981 when her mother died had a length of one day. In 1991, a visit was being planed for the King and Queen of Spain. It was being planed that the King and Queen would stay outside Athens and would not visit the Parliament, but the visit did not materialize. In September 1996 there were elections in Greece and Konstantin Stephanopoulos, the winner, sent a letter to the Spanish King inviting him and the Queen to officially visit Greece. The King accepted the invitation.
A DISCREET QUEEN.
Even though Greeks tend to be very Republican (a poll showed that only 20% of them prefer to have a monarchy as a form of government) they recognize the role of Juan Carlos in the restitution of democracy in Spain and the discreet profile of the Queen.The King and Queen will not stay, as it is usually done, in an official State residence. Instead, they will stay at the Grande Bretagne Hotel. From the suite that they will be assigned, the Queen will be able to contemplate, probably with a great deal of nostalgia, the Royal Palace (now the Presidential Palace), the place in which he said “I do” on her civil wedding. The “I do” made Sofia Spanish and as such, she comes back for the 1st time since 1981 when she came to Greece only as a daughter accompanying her mother’s body. It’s been 17 years and Sofia, the Greek Queen of Spain, will come back home with a tremendous emotional load in her heart.
Rough translation by myself.
Seventeen years will have passed when on Monday, the 25th, Sofia, born a Greek, steps again, as a Spanish queen, on the land that saw her born. It’s yet to be seen, even by herself, what will be her fist flashback: that of the sad and dramatic visit in 1981 when she came Greece for the funeral of her mother, or the joyful day of her wedding with Juan Carlos. In Greece, instead, the official position is rather laconic: “Sofia comes back as the Queen of Spain and that’s it”. Greece’s internal politics are none of her business”. Both the Greek and Spanish sides are working for the visit not to turn into a political issue that could annoy the Greeks.
On May 8, Greek newspapers announced the visit of the Spanish King and Queen. It was brief news, no more than 5 or 6 lines where the key points of their visit were highlighted: a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister, with the leaders of the political parties and with representatives of the economy and industries. Unlike what was published in Spanish newspapers, the King will not give a speech in the Greek parliament but he and the Queen will pay a private visit to Tatoi, the place where the tombs of King Paul and Queen Federica are located. The Queen will also visit her old classmates from the Mitera School, which was founded by her own mother, where the Queen studied and worked before getting married. This comeback comes in the frame of a State visit, the first that King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia pay to Greece as monarchs. It is curious to note that in the 23 years of his reign, Greece is the only country in the European Union that the Spanish sovereigns have not yet visited.
GREEK ROOTS.
Greece is a place with several meanings to our Queen. Not only her roots can be traced there but also it’s the place where her parents are buried. Besides, his brother Constantine was the last Greek King until a referendum abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Republic. It is well known the aversion that the recently departed Constantine Caramanlis, the promoter president of the referendum that abolished the monarchy in 1974, felt for all the Greek royal family, but even more for Queen Federica. He prevented that King Constantine, living in exile, came back to Greece. The Greek government has avoided to give publicity to such a delicate issue, especially now that the former King has turned to the Commission of the European Tribunal to appeal the decision of the Greek government that confiscated all his belongings (what he calls his “private fortune”), forbade him to use the title of king and revoked his citizenship, violating the article XV of the Declaration of Human Rights (“Everybody has the right to a citizenship).
For the Greeks, Sofia, besides being the Queen of Spain, is the sister of former King Constantine and the daughter of King Paul and Queen Federica, a woman with an authoritarian and megalomaniac personality that was hated by many politicians and citizens due to her interventions in the Greek political life. Even though the opinion of the Greeks about Queen Sofia is rather neutral, the past of her family and the unfortunate comments by her brother about the Republican regime have always indirectly had an influence on her.
LAVISH WEDDING.
But there was a time in which Sofia had many Greeks on her side: the day of her wedding with the then future King of Spain. In 1962, a year in which Greeks were having many financial difficulties and many were practically forced to emigrate, Queen Frederica demanded the parliament to pass a law that would provide a dowry for Sofia of nine million drachmas, a huge amount of money in those times. On May 14, 1962 there were three weddings celebrated in Athens for Sofia and Juan Carlos: civil, Catholic and Orthodox, but none of the opposition political parties attended the festivities. The lavish ceremony of imperial style, paid with money from the State, had a cost of 75 million drachma. Several princes and kings were invited, and only from Spain more than 3,000 guests were invited.
Two years later Constantine was enthroned upon the death of King Paul. Constantine was only a young 24 years old man with very little experience and was advised by her almighty mother. When the military junta emerged, on April 21 1967, the King signed an agreement with the military and continued to reign until December. It was then that he tried to eliminate the military junta with a coup that was destined to fail because he had very little support from the army. Constantine had no choice but to self-exile and, seven years later, when the military junta came to an end, the Greeks had a referendum in which they chose to have a republic with 64% of the votes. Constantine would never come back to Greece but on two occasions: the funeral of her mother and as a tourist in 1993, the latter caused several reactions among the Greeks.
A DAY IN ATHENS.
Sofia would not come back either. She was in Greece when the junta emerged in 1967 and she came back in June the same year to attend the baptism of her nephew Pavlos. Her visit in 1981 when her mother died had a length of one day. In 1991, a visit was being planed for the King and Queen of Spain. It was being planed that the King and Queen would stay outside Athens and would not visit the Parliament, but the visit did not materialize. In September 1996 there were elections in Greece and Konstantin Stephanopoulos, the winner, sent a letter to the Spanish King inviting him and the Queen to officially visit Greece. The King accepted the invitation.
A DISCREET QUEEN.
Even though Greeks tend to be very Republican (a poll showed that only 20% of them prefer to have a monarchy as a form of government) they recognize the role of Juan Carlos in the restitution of democracy in Spain and the discreet profile of the Queen.The King and Queen will not stay, as it is usually done, in an official State residence. Instead, they will stay at the Grande Bretagne Hotel. From the suite that they will be assigned, the Queen will be able to contemplate, probably with a great deal of nostalgia, the Royal Palace (now the Presidential Palace), the place in which he said “I do” on her civil wedding. The “I do” made Sofia Spanish and as such, she comes back for the 1st time since 1981 when she came to Greece only as a daughter accompanying her mother’s body. It’s been 17 years and Sofia, the Greek Queen of Spain, will come back home with a tremendous emotional load in her heart.
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