Former Greek royal family expresses ‘deep emotion’ after regaining citizenship

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Members of Greece’s former royal family expressed “deep emotion” Monday at a decision to reinstate their Greek citizenship, ending a decades-old dispute with the country’s government.

Greece abolished the monarchy in a 1974 referendum and the former royal family was stripped of its citizenship two decades later during a dispute over the former royal estate that passed to state control.

In a decision published in the government gazette, dated Friday, citizenship was granted to 10 members of the former royal family. They include the five children of the late King Constantine II and former Queen Anne-Marie as well as to five of their grandchildren.

“It is with deep emotion that, after 30 years, we hold the Greek citizenship again. The law of 1994 deprived us of our citizenship, rendering us stateless with all that this entails in terms of individual rights and great emotional distress,” the former royal family said in a statement in Greek and English.

“Our father and our family fully respected the result of the 1974 referendum,” the statement said. “However, the provision of the 1994 law on citizenship, a result of the political status at the time, was not befitting of a former head of the Greek state and an institution that served the country faithfully. The passing of our father marked the end of an era.”

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Constantine died last year at 82 having only returned to Greece in his 70s. He remained a controversial figure over claims that he failed to distance himself from heated political rivalries while he reigned as king between 1964 and 1973. He was ousted during a military dictatorship that collapsed the following year.

Constantine’s family has close ties with European royals through his marriage to Danish princess Anne-Marie. His sister is Emeritus Queen Sofia of Spain and he was second cousin to Britain’s King Charles III and godfather to Prince William.

Ending the dispute, Constantine’s children agreed last week to adopt a surname — De Grece, from the French for “of Greece” — while formally recognizing Greece’s status as a presidential parliamentary democracy and renouncing any claims to royal authority or titles.

“After 50 years since democracy’s restoration, we have a strong democracy and protected constitution that can defend itself, with laws that apply without any footnotes or exceptions,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said Friday before the decision was published.

Constantine’s five children are Alexia, 58; Pavlos, 56; Nikolaos, 54; Theodora, 40; and Philippos, 37. Pavlos’ five children were also granted citizenship: Maria-Olympia, 27; Constantine-Alexios, 25; Achileas-Andreas, 23; Odysseas-Kimon, 19; and Aristidis-Stavros, 15.

Other royal family members, including the 78-year-old former Queen Anne-Marie, did not apply.