Manny wrote:
Greece has an exiled king, Constantine. He was deposed in the military junta of 1967. The Greek royal family is not Greek, they are of Bavarian and Danish descent. Prince Charles of England is related to them. If the Greek monarchy is restored, I would rather it be someone who is of Greek blood. Perhaps the last Byzantine emperor (Constantine XI) has a descendant that is still alive. The Russian royal house is related to him also.
Further to Manny\'s post: Allow me a little history lesson:
Constantine was not quite deposed in 1967 following the military coup, he fled into exile in London, where he and his family lives to this day. Even before the ousting of the colonels\' government and the restoration of parliamentary democracy in 1974, there were rumblings of Constantine\'s role in the coup. Greeks are notorious conspiracy theorists (second only to the Russians :grin:), but more and more evidence kept coming to light which pointed to Constantine at least turning a blind eye to the imminent coup, and, worse, encouraging the colonels. Constantine was a very popular king when he acceded to the throne in 1965, but once it became apparent that the king was not entirely ignorant of the colonels\' plans, rapidly got on the nose. Greeks will put you on a pedestal, but they\'ll rip you down faster than you can blink if they so much as sniff betrayal.
The new democratic government of Greece held a referendum in late 1975 on whether the monarchy should be reinstated. The result was beyond question: more than 75% of Greek voters said \"no\". To this day, any attempt by Constantine or any of his family to even set foot on Greek oil has been met with a polite but firm refusal by Greek authorities. There are some remnants of a monarchist persuasion living in Greece, but they are only a few, and most are past any serious effort to restore the monarchy.
In short, the chances of Greece restoring its monarchy are pretty well zero.
