THE HISTORY OF GREECE — Exile, Stateless Years and Death in Athen

On the night of December 13, 1967, King Constantine II fled Greece in a small aircraft from an airfield near Kavala, with his wife Anne-Marie, his mother Frederica, and a weeks-old baby — and he never ruled again. The crown had fallen before, abolished in 1924 and restored in 1935, but this time the exile would last 46 years. The dynasty itself was young — a Danish prince chosen king in 1863. The colonels had seized Athens in April 1967, and the king's attempt to stop them ended in flight. The junta kept him a political ghost while a regent sat in Athens, abolished the monarchy in June 1973, and staged a rigged referendum. When the junta collapsed in 1974, the Greek people voted 70% for a republic, and the king accepted the verdict from a London television studio, barred from campaigning in his own country. Exile became ordinary life: a townhouse in Hampstead, children born in London, and the 1960 Olympic gold medal. Then came the fight for what was taken — citizenship stripped in 1994, the Tatoi estate seized, and a landmark case at the European Court of Human Rights. In 2013, Constantine returned to Greece for good, not as a king but as a private citizen, and died in Athens in January 2023, aged 82. Why did King Constantine flee Greece in 1967? After the colonels seized power in April 1967, his counter-move failed, and he fled with his family on the night of December 13, 1967. When did Greece abolish the monarchy for good? The junta abolished it in June 1973, and the Greek people voted 70% for a republic in the December 1974 referendum. What did Greece take from the exiled king? His citizenship was stripped in 1994 and the Tatoi estate was seized after he refused to take a surname. Did Constantine ever return to Greece? Yes — he returned permanently in 2013 as a private citizen and died in Athens in January 2023, aged 82. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Night Escape (13 December 1967) 1:08 A Crown That Had Died Before (1924) 2:24 The Danish Prince Who Became King (1863) 3:59 The Colonels Seize Power (1967) 5:42 Monarchy Abolished (1973) 7:03 The Junta Collapses (1974) 8:24 The People Vote Republic (8 December 1974) 9:40 Exile in London 12:33 A Mother's Funeral (1981) 14:39 Stripped of Citizenship (1994) 16:39 The Strasbourg Verdict 18:37 Home at Last (2013) 19:39 The Final Journey (2023) #Greece #RoyalFamily #ConstantineII #GreekHistory #FallenDynasties #EuropeanHistory #HistoryDocumentary #Monarchy #Tatoi #ThroneAshes