Rare Greek Royalty Card Royal Document Signed King Constantine II Queen Greece

Description: LOT-O99. For your consideration is an exceedingly rare and historically important c.1988 antique Royal presentation Christmas card, hand-signed by HM King Constantine II and HM Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. Condition is original. Royalty document / presentation card is original. Guaranteed authentic. Card measures 6.75" x 4.5". Unfolded 13.25". Constantine II (Greek: , Konstantnos II; born 2 June 1940) reigned as the last King of Greece, from 6 March 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973. Constantine is the only son of King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece. As his family was forced into exile during the Second World War, he spent the first years of his childhood in Egypt and South Africa. He returned to Greece with his family in 1946 during the Greek Civil War. King George II died in 1947, and Constantine's father became the new king, making Constantine the crown prince. He acceded as king in 1964 following the death of his father, King Paul. Later that year he married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark with whom he eventually had five children. Although the accession of the young monarch was initially regarded auspiciously, his reign saw political instability that culminated in the Colonels' Coup of 21 April 1967. The coup left Constantine, as the head of state, little room to maneuver since he had no loyal military forces on which to rely. As a result, he reluctantly agreed to inaugurate the junta on the condition that it be made up largely of civilian ministers. On 13 December 1967, Constantine was forced to flee the country, following an unsuccessful countercoup against the junta. He remained (formally) the head of state in exile until the junta abolished the monarchy on 1 June 1973. The 1973 Greek republic referendum on 29 July, ratified the abolition. There were questions concerning the validity of this referendum and whether people were pressured to vote for a republic. Therefore a fresh referendum was held after the restoration of democracy in 1974. This second referendum was held after the fall of the junta as the 1974 Greek republic referendum on 8 December 1974 and confirmed the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Third Hellenic Republic. Constantine, who was not allowed to return to Greece to campaign, accepted the results of the plebiscite. Constantine is also a former competitive sailor and Olympian, winning a gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics in the Dragon class, and later serving on the International Olympic Committee. Along with his fellow crew members of the Nireus sailing vessel, he was named one of the 1960 Greek Athletes of the Year. On 6 March 1964, King Paul died of cancer and the 23-year-old Constantine succeeded him as King of the Hellenes. Prior to this, Constantine had already been appointed as regent for his ailing father. King Paul's long-time prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis regarded him partly responsible for his fall from leadership in 1963. However, due to his youth, he was also perceived as a promise of change. The accession of Constantine coincided with the recent election of Centrist George Papandreou as prime minister in February 1964, which ended 11 years of right-wing rule by the National Radical Union (ERE). Greece was still feeling the effects of the Civil War of 194449 between communists and monarchists, and society was strongly polarized between the royalist/conservative right and the liberal/socialist left. It was hoped that the new young king and the new prime minister would be able to overcome past dissensions. Initially, relations between the king and Papandreou seemed good, but by 1965, they had deteriorated. The conservative establishment feared the rising influence of Papandreou's left-leaning son Andreas, and the outbreak of the purported ASPIDA scandal seemed to confirm their suspicions. The name of Andreas Papandreou was implicated in the case, and when the defense minister, Petros Garoufalias tried to form a committee of inquiry into the alleged scandal, the prime minister forced his resignation. Immediately, George Papandreou assigned the defense portfolio to himself; this caused alarm in the palace and the conservative security circles, which interpreted this move as an attempt by Papandreou to control the army. Constantine refused to accept the self-appointment, and a new political issue resulted. Constantine proposed the appointment of any other person of the prime minister's choosing as defense minister because, as the king argued, there was a conflict of interest: the prime minister's son was allegedly involved in the scandal. Papandreou rejected the king's proposition, although he had initially shown some willingness to accept it, and submitted his own resignation, stating that it was well within his constitutional powers as the elected prime minister commanding a Parliamentary majority to appoint his ministers at his pleasure, and it was beyond the constitutional powers of the king to refuse him this right. A short time after his resignation, Constantine appointed a new government led by Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas, who failed to ensure the Parliament's confidence. This appointment, which became known as the "Royal Coup" ( ), evoked much criticism as being unconstitutional.[citation needed] After his failure, Novas was succeeded by Ilias Tsirimokos, who also failed to form a stable government and was dismissed. Constantine next appointed some of Papandreou's dissidents, known as the July Apostates and led by Stefanos Stefanopoulos, to form a government of "king's men", which lasted until December 1966, amidst mounting strikes and protests, supported by the right-wing ERE. When Stefanopoulos resigned in frustration, Constantine appointed a caretaker government under Ioannis Paraskevopoulos, which called elections for May 1967. This government did not even last until the scheduled elections. It was replaced on 3 April 1967 by another caretaker government under the leader of the ERE, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos.

Price: 145.96 USD

Location: Sparrows Point, Maryland

End Time: 2024-11-25T21:09:08.000Z

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