The death of King Constantine II has brought to an end a turbulent chapter in the history of his country and its relationship with its monarchy. His flight into exile in 1967, following a military coup, and the abolition of the monarchy in a referendum seven years later ended any hope of his dynasty holding power in Greece. In death, he is has been described as the ‘last King of Greece’ by many. But in life he held a different title.
During his reign, Constantine was known as King of the Hellenes. And in his exile, certainly the earlier part of it, he was referred to as the ex-King of the Hellenes. Go back to 1982 and you’ll find that description in plenty of newspaper reports as Constantine became godfather to Prince William.
The title ‘King of Greece’ was used by the first modern monarch of the country. The Greek War of Independence saw the nation win freedom from the Ottoman Empire. The London conference which followed decided on a monarchy for Greece and eventually settled on Prince Otto of Bavaria as the man to wear the crown. He was known as King Otto of Greece from his accession in 1832 but his reign ran into trouble and he was deposed in 1862.
Soon afterwards, the Greek National Assembly decided to revive the monarchy and chose Prince Wilhelm of Denmark as their ruler. He accepted and chose to rule under the Greek version of one of his middle names. The reign of Georgios I (George) began on March 30th 1863 but in a marked change from his predecessor, he was known as the King of the Hellenes.
Hellenes denoted the Greek people rather than a geographical territory and was seen as more encompassing. It implied a monarchy that included Greek people outside the territorial borders then established for the nation state, rather than rule of a settled entity. It stuck. To take the title of King of the Hellenes was to proclaim royal rule over a people, not a country. Every monarch that followed was known as King of the Hellenes.
That is the title that Constantine held when he left Greece in 1967 and when the monarchy was abolished in 1974 in a referendum. Through the decades that followed, the incidences of him being referred to as ‘former King of Greece’ instead of ‘ex King of the Hellenes’ increased. By the time he was finally allowed to return to his home country, he was often referred to as the former King of Greece.
It is how he was referred to in many of the reports on his funeral. The final farewell to Constantine II, on January 16th 2023, was broadcast around the world. Kings and queens attended even though the Greek government had said it wasn’t a State Funeral, rather the burial of a private citizen. King of Greece or King of the Hellenes? In the end, it was Constantine they came to remember.
