The last king of Greece, Constantine II, He died on Tuesday at the age of 82 in the Ygeia private hospital in Athens, where he had been admitted last week.
His entire family had been with the former monarch for days, including his sisters Queen Sofia of Spain and Doña Irene, who had traveled to be with him in his final moments.
Constantine II was crowned king of Greece in 1964 at the age of 24. He married Ana María, younger sister of Queen Margaret of Denmark.
The political crises that followed were favorable conditions for the colonels’ coup d’état in April 1967, which forced him to go into exile with all his family in Rome.
In 1974, after the fall of the military junta, a referendum was held in the country in which 69.2% of the population chose for the republic.
In this way Constantine became the last king of Greecefrom a dynasty founded in 1863 by his great-grandfather, Jorge I.
After escaping from Greece, he lived in London for 40 years in an 882m2 villa in Hampstead before returning to his home country in 2013.
Besides being married to the sister of a monarch and having his sister become queen of Spain, Constantine was cousin of King Carlos III of the United Kingdom and godfather of Prince William.
A former monarch in failing health
The deceased monarch had been in fragile health for several years. In December 2021, he was hospitalized after suffering an ischemic crisis and again a month later for contracting the coronavirus.
Although almost no information about his condition had been released in recent days, Greek media reported that he had been in pain a new shot, so he was transferred to the intensive care unit.
His office would not confirm that point at any point and merely indicated as of Monday that it was stable in its fragile state.
Constantine had long suffered from respiratory and heart problems, and his mobility has reduced in recent years.
In recent days, his relatives had arrived from different parts of the world, because Only one of his five children lives in GreeceNicholas, married to Tatiana Blanik.
The former monarch had moved with his wife from the Peloponnese city of Porto Jeli to Athens in spring last year to be close to the hospital and the doctors monitoring his health.
His last public appearance was with his wife and sisters last October, when they were seen walking along a central street in Athens.
DB extension
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.