Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece has given his first interview since the death of his father, King Constantine II.
The Crown Prince shared his view of his family’s future in Greece and his own role as the head of the Greek Royal Family in an interview with the French magazine Point de Vue.
Pavlos was questioned on how he imagined his role as the head of the Royal House, to which he responded: “I inherited this role from my father, not associated with any responsibility at the state level, just at a family level. My role will be … to be a good example to the family. We will continue to be united and keep strong ties with our country.”
The Crown Prince stressed that he would not interfere in Greek state affairs. He said neither he nor his son, Prince Constantine Alexios, would take on any official roles. However, he did share that he hopes that his son follows in the late monarch’s footsteps in being a good person.
Crown Prince Pavlos received the French magazine for the interview in Athens during the commemoration of the 40th day since the passing of his father. He took the opportunity to thank the Greek people for their support and promised that he would spend more time in his country of birth. The royal currently resides in New York.
Crown Prince Pavlos said: “I would thank the Greek people for the respect they have shown to my father and to us. Whether people are royalists or not does not matter. They paid tribute to a historical figure, a part of Greek history. On behalf of my family, I thank them from the bottom of my heart.”
Pavlos commented on the current political climate in Greece and praised some of the elected officials. He said he does not want the constitution to change and said the government has done a good job in dealing with recent global challenges.
It is still not known if the Crown Prince will permanently relocate to Greece; he would not confirm that to the magazine but did say he wants to spend more time in his homeland.
King Constantine died on 10 January at the age of 82 after years of bad health. He is buried in the Royal Family’s cemetery at Tatoi Palace in Athens.
