Half a century ago, in the cradle of democracy, the Greek people dethroned the monarchy, not by force, but through the ballot box.
“Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Athens to celebrate becoming a Republic,” the BBC reported after the 1974 referendum.
“It hurts simply because the result of a vote did not go the way you wanted,” declared the rejected monarch Constantine II.
“But it stops hurting when you know how that vote came about and the circumstances that caused it. And then, you accept that reality,” he added.
How did Constantine II, the last king of the Hellenes, lose the crown that had been in his family since 1863?
blow after blow
Constantine was 23 years old when he acceded to the throne after the death of his father in 1964.
“With dignity and solemnity, but with little overt emotion, Athens this morning removed the body of King Paul I from a royal palace that has so often been a symbol of political controversy,” the BBC announcer described.
“The entire royal family slowly walked towards a future that now depends a lot on the young King Constantine“.
But Constantine had inherited a country deeply divided politically.
The king soon fell out with his prime minister, and then tried to appoint a new government without holding elections.
During that crisis, a group of army officers launched a coup in 1967.
It was the beginning of what was known as the dictatorship of the Colonels, a brutal and repressive regime.
After appearing to cooperate with the new leaders, Constantine attempted a countercoup.
“The longer he stayed with that regime, the stronger they became, taking more and more control in the country,” the king explained.
“So I felt that unless I did something quick and positive to eliminate them, the chances would be reduced.”
The king’s plot failed.
He was forced to flee the country for Italy, where he held a press conference in Rome.
“I decided to act. I was not successful, but it remains my duty and my purpose to restore parliamentary government in Greece.
“Let’s be perfectly realistic: I have no real power at my command now. But I do have behind my purpose the desire of every Greek to live in freedom.”
The real hope
The public appeal made no difference.
Six years after the coup, the colonels declared Greece a Republic.
The Royal Guards were carrying out their duties outside the empty palace. The royal paintings remained on the walls, but no one believed that the monarchy would return.
But Constantine did not seem to be discouraged.
“When I met King Constantine for the first time, he only made one condition: ‘When you introduce me,’ he told me, please don’t call me ex king’” said the BBC’s Richard Lindley, recalling an interview in 1973.
“Kings may have to live in exile, but they cannot be deposed. A king is always a king“, stressed the monarch of Greece.
“I am absolutely convinced that when my people have the opportunity to express themselves freely, at that point, an overwhelming majority of them will want me to return because they know that when I became king in 1964, I put my hand on the Bible and swore to God that would protect them through their freedom and their Constitution.
“And I think from that point of view, I will always be sure that I will return to my country.”
In 1974, a ray of hope seemed to shine for Constantino.
The dictatorship of the Colonels collapsed.
The civil government that assumed power until democratic elections were held considered the military regime’s Constitution illegitimate and reestablished by decree the 1952 Constitution, which established Greece’s form of government as a constitutional monarchy.
Everything seemed to indicate that Constantine would be recognized again as monarch.
But after the elections, the new prime minister, Constantinos Karamanlis, who was the traditional leader of the conservative monarchist party, called a referendum to decide the future of the monarchy, once and for all.
Excited royalists created posters, stickers, leaflets and even composed a special campaign song to support the king’s return.
His argument was that the constant of a crowned democracy with the king as non-executive head of state could ensure long-term stability in a way that a president could not.
no king
Despite being at the heart of the argument, Constantine was not allowed to travel to Greece to seek support.
When a former army officer, Constantine Nikoludis, was asked if the referendum could go against monarchical hopes because the king was not in Greece to campaign, he replied:
“The king should not be here, and he will win many more votes for not being here than for being here.
“The king is not a politician and therefore should not campaigna king is above things like that. The king, when he returns, will have to be both the king of the communists and the king of the socialists.”
There were, however, many people against the return of the crown.
They believed that the monarchy was outdated and irrelevant, and that Constantine had too often meddled in politics..
The new government remained neutral in the vote, but George Mavros, an anti-monarchist, gave an indication of how many opposition politicians felt.
“The pending problem of the form of State, whether there will be a Republic or Kingdom, will be decided by the people, the forces of the Center Union have made their position clear: we are in favor of the Republic, but we respect the will of the people.”
That will
Days before the vote, Constantine made a final appeal on television to the Greek people from the United Kingdom, where he was exiled.
He promised to be a leading monarch, dedicated to democratic principles and safeguarding civil rights.
Finally, on December 8, 1974, four and a half million people went to the polls to cast their vote.
The result? Two to one in favor of the Republic.
“Tonight the monarchy died,” the BBC reported.
“In the streets, they shout for joy, carrying candles while cars continue to ululate as they have done since the Republican victory became certain.”
“Not only have they voted against the monarchy, but they have definitively buried it and in this way they have won an important first day in the fight for national independence and popular sovereignty,” celebrated socialist leader Andreas Papandreou.
“It is the most significant event of this period. “We are now on the path to a Greece that will belong to the Greeks,” he added.
Prime Minister Karamanlis, for his part, called for unity.
His spokesman said it would be unwise for Constantine to return to Greece at this time.
in your heart
Over the next two decades, Constantine was only able to visit Greece occasionally, once for his mother’s funeral in 1981.
In 1995 he was interviewed again by the BBC:
– On a personal level, have you accepted in your heart that you will no longer be king of Greece?
– I cannot do it for the simple reason that I cannot anticipate what the Greek people will want to do in 5, 15, 20, 25 years – I do not know how long I will live – but I cannot do it simply because it is not known how people are going to react.
– If the Greek people want to change that, they will do it and no one is going to stop them.
– So what he is really telling us is that no matter how long it takes, if he is asked, he will do it, he will always be ready.
– Absolutely.
Constantine never returned to Greece as king, but in 2013 he was allowed to return to live in Athens.
He died there 10 years later, at the age of 82.
And Greece is still a Republic.
* This article is adapted from the BBC Witness History episode “How Greece got rid of their king”. If you want to listen to it, click here
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