Constantine II of Greece

Constantine II Of Greece

Constantine II GCRR, RE (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Βʹ, Konstantínos Βʹ; born 2 June 1940) was King of Greece from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973.

He succeeded his father Paul in March 1964, being styled His Majesty Constantine II, King of the Hellenes (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Βʹ, Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων). Although the accession of the young monarch was initially regarded auspiciously, his reign soon became controversial: Constantine's involvement in the Apostasia of July 1965 created unrest among sections of the population and aggravated the ongoing political instability that culminated in the Colonels' Coup of 21 April 1967.

The coup was successful leaving Constantine, as head of state, little room to manoeuvre as he had no loyal military forces to rely on. As a result he reluctantly agreed to inaugurate the putschist government on the condition that it be made up largely of civilian ministers. On 13 December 1967, he was forced to flee the country following an abortive counter-coup against the junta. He remained in exile the head of state until 1 June 1973, when the junta abolished the monarchy in violation of the constitution and declared a republic without any consent from the Greek people.

This abolition was confirmed after the fall of the junta by a plebiscite on 8 December 1974, which established the Third Hellenic Republic. Constantine, who was not allowed to return to Greece to campaign, accepted the results of the plebiscite.