CONSTANTINOPULSE
The Greek monarchy has fully faded to history with the death of its last king, Constantine II, at the age of 82. A gold-winning Olympic sailor before donning the crown, he ascended to the throne in 1964 upon the death of his father, King Paul. His reign began inconspicuously, but his popularity soon plummeted after acrimonious spats with then-PM George Papandreou (mostly over who controlled what in the power balance), and accusations that ol’ Connie was a political puppet for his mother, Queen Frederica. Attempts to smoothen tensions led to the scheduling of a May 1967 election, where Papandreou’s son Andreas was poised to win big. But Constantine remained bitter towards the Papandreous and planned a coup against them, only to be out-couped by the far-right military junta. His attempts to wrest back power failed, he was exiled, and the junta abolished the monarchy in 1973.
After the return of democracy to Greece, a referendum was held regarding restoration of the monarchy, but with Constantine’s boat rocking sowing the seeds of the military dictatorship in the first place, the result was overwhelmingly in favour of keeping Greece a republic. He remained in exile while paying occasional visits to his homeland, but as time marched on the public image of him smoothened from contempt to a benign historical curiosity, and he returned to Greece for good in 2010. Connected to the UK royal family via Phil the Greek, his inability to attend the Queen’s funeral sounded alarms, and a major stroke days into the new year confirmed these suspicions. His death curiously comes a day before the 100th anniversary of King Constantine I’s death! 16 teams proclaim Greece is the word, including JoeRam, I’m Sorry For Your Trouble, Windsor the Troll, and newcomer Diego.
Constantine II of Greece
2 June 1940 – 10 January 2023, aged 82
16 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀💀💀 6 POINTS)