There will be no official funeral for the last king of Greece
It was decided that the country’s last king, Constantine II, who died last night in Greece at the age of 82, would not be buried with an official ceremony.
In the Prime Minister’s statement, decisions on the funeral ceremony were shared at the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Kiryakos Mitsotakis with the participation of relevant ministers. The statement said that a funeral will be held for the former king as a “civilian citizen”.
The statement indicated that Konstantinos II will be buried in Tatoi, the former Royal Palace, where members of the former royal family are buried, and that Culture and Sports Minister Lina Mendoni will represent the government at the funeral. In the statement, it was noted that the relevant protocol rules will be applied so that official guests from abroad attend the funeral.
THE DISCUSSION HAS CREATED
How to make the funeral of Constantine II, the last king of Greece, sparked a debate in the country. According to Greek media reports, the former king’s family had requested that the funeral be held in agreement with the “former head of state”.
Opponents of this idea, on the other hand, argued that the title “King” was stripped from him in the 1973 and 1974 referendums, and that the King was also stripped of his Greek citizenship, and argued that it could not be an official ceremony. .
Konstantinos II, who was born in June 1940 in the Paleo Psihiko district of the capital Athens, held the title of “King of Greece” from 1964 to 1973, when the monarchy was abolished in Greece by referendum. With the second referendum in 1974, the Kingdom regime in Greece was finally abolished.
The ex-King had gone abroad in December 1967, after the failed action of the Board of Colonels against the dictatorial regime in the country. The Greek government also stripped the former king of Greek citizenship in 1994.
Constantine II, who lived in Italy and England, preferred to live in Greece in his later years. In 2003, the Greek state paid more than 13 million euros in compensation to the former king, who demanded compensation for the expropriation of royal property. (AA)